Fatal Attraction
by InkStainedBones
Summary: Kalin stared at her, ruthlessness in his very gaze, the purest promise of revenge, of pain. And yet still she wanted him. "Don't worry, girly." the man holding her growled in her ear. "We wont let your vampire love eat your body after he kills you."
1. Rythm

Rebecca stared.

No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't seem to make herself stop. At least she wasn't as bad as her classmates, who were openly gawking at their new classmate. She only stole short glances from the corners of her eyes before she would stare down at her blank piece of paper once again.

And for God sakes, who wouldn't stare? He was escorted in during the middle of the art class by two cliché bald large body guards all decked out in black, and ever completing the look with a pair of dark sunglasses. Not to mention he would have been gorgeous, with silky ear-length charcoal black hair framing lovely green eyes that were only amplified by his pale skin. Would have been, because his good looks were then horribly marred by the fact that he was wearing and honest-to-god-muzzle. Not to mention he was wearing a straight jacket just to top it all off.

And if that didn't make it hard enough not to stare, how about the fact that he was sitting right next to her?

Rebecca shifted in her seat, rubbing her sweaty palms on her worn out blue jeans, and tugging her green blouse just a little lower out of habit before she tucked a blond strand of hair behind her ear. Something about his presence made her anxious, and no, it wasn't the fact that he was an obvious psycho.

_You do not know that_, Rebecca scolded herself, knowing that there were some people who were not crazy, but if your convicted insane and you try to prove your not insane, the results usually did not work out so well.

To distract herself she looked about the classroom, beyond all of the gaping whispering students. The room itself was fairly large, filled with filing cabinets and enough tables for all thirty four college students. In the front of the class was a white board, which bore the scribbling of their teacher, Mrs. Morris, that explained what they would be doing today. They would be doing whatever they pleased, as long as it had something to do with art.

Like always.

There was a large window to Rebecca's left, which allowed the bright summer sun to light up the table she sat at, and the door was just behind her. She had always taken advantage of sitting in the back of the classroom, since not many people came back here to sit, and even fewer would come back here to bother her. It was not that she didn't enjoy the company of others, it was just that she seemed to unnerve them with her talents.

Like her photographic memory.

So having this silent stranger sitting beside her was a new experience to her, and she was not honestly sure she liked it.

Suddenly he made a noise, and Rebecca's whole body tensed up like a deer who had just heard a sound coming from her safe grotto. She was not expecting it, but chided herself for having such a stupid reaction. Human's made noise, the only ones that didn't were dead, even though they could be noisy on occasion also, but Rebecca kept that to herself.

Blue eyes peeked at the stranger cautiously, to find his lovely eyes to be somewhat unfocused, but fixed on the glass on the edge of the table. He made the noise again, and she realized he was trying to speak, but was hindered by the muzzle that clamped with silver buckles in the back of his skull, almost hidden in his thick hair. She bit her lip, her eyes sliding to her left, head turning slightly, so she could look at the two guards who had escorted him in. They were standing by the door in the back of the class, looking at her classmates, pointing to one or two of them and talking amongst themselves softly enough that not even she, who was closest, could over hear them over the busy chatter of the classroom.

The young stranger made that noise again, and against her better judgment, Rebecca knew she was going to have to figure out what he wanted. Since the guards were obviously meant to take care of him, and she was too much of a coward to approach them herself.

She turned to the stranger, and sucked in a large breath.

"Can I help you?" she asked, and immediately wanted to smack herself dead in the face. _Can I help you? Obviously not if the mans in a straight jacket and muzzle. A hah! There you go condemning people again!_ But while she was having this inner argument with herself, the stranger had focused his attention on her. And his eyes were no longer unfocused, as a matter of fact they were sharp with attention, like the most beautiful emerald. It surprised her a little bit, and she drew back slightly, her heart pounding in her chest at the pure and unhindered attention that was held there. No one ever gave her that much attention, never had in her whole life.

She licked her lips nervously, and his eyes focused on the motion,making a shiver run down her spine.

_Shiver on unease_. She told herself. It was NOT attraction, just as it was most defiantly not her liking the attention.

"Hi, my names Rebecca. Welcome to our art class. Um, are you okay? I mean, I heard you say something." she was stumbling over her words, unsure of what to say, or worse, how to say it. How did one speak to a person who could not speak back? Would he think her rude?

His eyes flickered behind her, and she glanced back slightly, noticing he was looking at the guards. When their eyes met again, his held a note of warning, and she understood.

"Here," she said, pulling out a piece of paper, determined to be friendly when everyone else was just going to stop and stare at him. She knew what it was like to be different. And besides, he didn't seem too bad so far. She wrote the alphabet and then glanced back up at him, tucking hair out of her face. "This will help me find out your name. I will point to each letter, and just give me some sign when to stop. Okay?" a subtle nod. So she began pressing her pencil down on each letter of the alphabet, watching him for a sign. He nodded when her pencil touched the letter k. She wrote it down at the top of the paper, and began again. Soon an a, then followed by an l, then an I and an n.

"Kalin?" he nodded, and his eyes seeking her face, studying her expression better than any man she had ever spoke with. It was as if he was picking up on every little thing she felt, even the things her expression may not say, but the little flicker of her eyes away or even to his lips?

_Ah, no! Don't be a whore Rebecca._ She had just found out his name, and already she was thinking of what it would be like to kiss him. What was wrong with her? She had never felt a need to kiss someone, as a matter of fact, she had never felt the need to make love to anyone either, but she did that even though she found no enjoyment in it.

"It suites you," she said with a smile, and his gaze went to the cup on the edge of the desk again, and he made the same noise he had before. Then he looked back at her, a somewhat pleading look in his eyes, hoping she would understand.

"Oh! Water, your thirsty?" he nodded, looking relieved, so she reached into her backpack that sat by her right leg, and pulled out a water bottle, and then, with a second glance, a straw from a juice box she had bought that morning. Cracking the lid, she slid the straw in and held it to him, allowing him to lean forward so the straw slid between the small slits in the front of his muzzle that allowed him to breathe, and in this case, drink. His eyes locked with hers, heated and intense, and she was helpless to look away as she drank. Even when he was done, they remained in that position for a minuet or two more, until she became aware of the eyes of her peers.

A blush spread across her face and down her throat, and she pulled back, hiding her hair with her face. But she froze when she pulled the bottle back, and the straw came out with blood on it. She gaped at it, her stomach churning at the sight, and her heart again beginning to pound a million times a minuet once again. Okay, she was wrong, he was _defiantly _frigging crazy to cut himself with a straw!

Great, a now she had basically made friends with him, what the hell was she gonna do?

She then noticed the peculiar way he was looking at her. He looked at the straw, then at her, as if he was expecting her to do something, waiting for something to happen.

"Um, Kalin, did you cut your mouth with my straw. On purpose?" his eyes searched her face, trying to understand more than just her words. He suddenly looked away and shrugged, as if he knew that by answering he would be condemning himself in her eyes. She sighed, deciding that she would not break her friend with this crazy person just because he was crazy.

His head jerked back to her just as she felt the large hand wind in her wait long hair and yank her clean out of her seat and onto her feet. She cried out, her hands instinctively reaching to grab the hand that held her to ease the sharp pain that radiated through her scalp. She was extremely tender headed, and she wished for a brief moment she knew how to kick this person's ass when she looked up to find herself looking into the face of one of Kalin's large body guards. She heard Kalin mumbling urgently, trying in vain to get them to stop.

"What's this?" the other one asked, lifting up the bottle of water and straw she had dropped on the floor when she had been grabbed. He studied the blood, giving it a sniff, oddly enough, and gave a nod to his counterpart, who tightened the grip in her hair until she cried out again and her eyes blurred from unshed tears.

"How did you know to give him blood? Who told you to give him blood?" the one holding her hair demanded, giving a yank when she did not respond, causing her to gasp anew and try to gain her breath. She was barley standing on her own tippy toes as it was, and she could barley think from the pain. All eyes were on them.

"I don't know what your talking about," she finally rasped, and he gave her a shake, and she heard Kalin jump from his seat, only for him to be restrained by the other guard.

"Do not lie to me! There is blood on this straw, explain this to me!" he demanded, and she gasped for breath, desperate for the pain to stop.

"Stop! She was only giving him water!" someone in the class room yelled, and there was a small stunned silence, even Rebecca was surprised.

"Is this true, girl?" the guard demanded, and she tried to nod, and barley manged it with the restriction she had on her head. He paused for a moment, considering her, and then tossed her aside, causing her to collide with a table and a few chairs. Luckily to students had moved out of the way, otherwise Rebecca would have added harming them to her list of bad deeds she had done.

Her head swam when she came in contact with the cold floor, the wind knocked from her, her stomach churning from the added pain of the collision and the lingering pain of her scalp. She was barley aware of a new scuffle unfolding, the sounds of tables and chairs being overturned, as well as a muffled yelling. Her eyes cleared to find one of her classmates, Ben, hovering over her, concern clear in his deep blue eyes. She shot up, pushing him aside, swatting at his hands when he tried to restrain her, or hell, touch her soothingly.

She sucked in large breath so her brain could understand what she was witnessing, as Kalin threw one of the biggest struggles again two men much larger than he was. He had kicked over the table they had shared, and the chairs had been unfortunate enough to be scatter on the floor with them.

But for a moment, their eyes met, and his were instantly filled with relief, drained of the pure rage her had had moments before. He fell limp in his guards arms, his eyes refusing to leave hers. Her heart pounded, but not from fear, almost as if it were trying to find the rhythm of his. She frowned, touching her chest with a frown, and could have sworn his eyes crinkled as if he were . . . smiling.

Interesting.


	2. Haunted

**I didn't put this in the other one, but for the wonderful readers and commenters who have already joined me, welcome to Fatal Attraction. I am here to warn you that this story is rated M for the reason that there will be sexual content later in the story. These are all my own characters and my own story line, and thank you to those who commented, glad to know you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Guess I'm doing good so far ^_^**

**Rebbeca's POV**

My hands were shaking.

It was the weirdest thing I think I could have possibly been doing. I was only thrown around the room by my hair, hit a couple of desks and chairs, nothing to minor.

Yeah right.

I had three bruised ribs, a throbbing skull, a twinge in my back that refused to go away, and a single busted knee. I had retreated to my room after the, uh, well I wouldn't say "attack" though that is how everyone in my class was viewing it. I honestly didn't know how to categorize it, and I seemed to be the only damn one who realized it didn't matter. I came, I saw, I got the crap beat out of me, end of story.

The only problem? I knew that I was going to see Kalin and those two stupid body guards tomorrow. You see, my college was a college for the gifted, for any student who had an exceptional talent and wanted to hone those skills to a fine point. There was a large range of talents here, from any type of instrument and singing to all types of dancing, crafting, even writing, languages, and art were among the selection. They had left nothing out, and was in return rewarded with a flock of students ranging in the hundred thousands.

It also made things a lot simpler for people like me.

I was a "special child" as my parents liked to so loving dot me. My term for it is "freakazoid at three o'clock". I played the violin, the piano, and the guitar. I was fluent in french, was good at art, had photographic memory, took hip-hop dancing, and was working my way to the top of the scientific ladder just because I could. The thing that made me a freak? I had been doing most of this since the time I was three and we found out that if I wanted to learn something, I did, no struggling, so tutoring. Show me how and I will.

Needless to say not many people wanted to bond with someone who can remember every word they said in the conversation the two of you had yesterday.

"Hey, Becca." I looked up as I heard the doorway to my room open, to find my one and only friend, Crystal, entering. Crystal always looked like a model, with large breast, a small waist with a generous backside and nicely rounded hips. Her hair was the color of rich mocha, her complexion a soft golden color, and her brown eyes only amplified her perfect nose and plump lips. She always smelled like raspberries and chocolate, and there was not a single guy who didn't turn to look at her as she walked by. And to top it off, she was one of the sweetest and most innocent people you would ever meet in your lifetime.

Would Kalin also find her body as interesting?

Whaaaaa? Where the hell did that one come and go from?

"Are you okay? I heard from Jimmy what happened in your art class." her voice was full of concern as she came over to where I was sitting on my bed and wrapped me in her slim arms that finished with flawless small hands and fingers. She was a good foot taller than I was when we stood next to each other, so needless to say I preferred to sit.

"I'm fine, did you leave your class to come see me?" it was hard to explain what Crystal was good at. She was a master at taking hip-hop dancing, and remixing every move to make it into something no one had ever seen. They way she moved made it seem so flawless and beautiful that half the time I preferred to watch and make her music. She just seemed to have something I didn't, something that made the moves almost work and flow to her will.

"Of course I did! I was not going to stay, like I could focus after they told me my friend had been brutalized by a crazy man!"

"Wait, what?" had she just said crazy man? Surely she hadn't just said that?

"Yeah, everyone is talking about how the new student in your class is crazy and that he attacked you, for like, no reason. That you were even nice to him and everything." she began wandering around my room, touching my art work on the wall, and my musical instrument cases I had placed carefully. She eventually sat on the kitchen table, a good thirty feet from me.

"That isn't what happened, Crystal." I said in a soft voice, too shocked to speak any louder. Were people really going around blaming everything on Kalin? Why would they do that? They had been watching what had happened the whole time. Or had to story just become so warped and twisted as it passed ears that this is what it had turned into? Either way, it sucked, especially since now everyone thought Kalin was some violent person.

Wait, was he a violent person?

"Then tell me what DID happen, gimme! Gimme dish!" she suddenly seemed to excited, and I rolled my eyes. Crystal's one and only downfall.

She loved gossip.

But at least I knew if I told her the truth she would tell other people, and maybe the story would finally be put straight. So I did tell her, watching her eyes widen as my story progressed, but I cut myself short at the end when words began to pour out of my mouth that I hadn't meant too. Like how Kalin had seemed to fight for me, like he seemed like he had tried to protect me.

God, I had a crush on a guy I had just met and had never heard speak. Shows what kind of girl I was.

"Oh! Its oh so romantic!" she suddenly cried at the end of my story, and I stared at her with wide eyes, not quite understanding where she was getting that from.

"How, exactly, did you get a tale of romance out of all this?" I asked, realizing I really did not understand normal people. And yes, compared to me, even with her unique talent, Crystal was unique.

"Oh come on? The eyes meeting, hearts pounding to the rhythm of each other-"

"-I said I only think that was how it felt!" I tried to intervene, but she continued on.

"- Him fighting to try and protect his fair maiden!" she clutched her hands to her chest and sighed, wistfully. Then she looked at me again, her eyes shining. "Oh! I do wish I could find romance the way you do! It is like a classic story! He is insane, and yet his love for you is just flowing up inside of him until he can no longer take it! And the passion guides him even with his brain scrambled!"

"Your nuts," I pointed out, and broke in when she went to speak again. "I was with him for a total of ten minuets! And no, I don't believe in condemning him before I really know if he is crazy. There was chemistry, maybe, but no fated romance, nothing more than what there was. He probably thought it was his fault his guards attacked me and was frustrated because he couldn't tell them so." I lifted a finger to cut her off when she tried to talk again. "Hes got a muzzle on, for crying out loud. Just because I like what I see doesn't mean we are gonna start dating. I doubt he even really understands what I am saying."

"Then why did you talk to him to begin with?"

Good question.

"Because I sensed something in him, that I have been searching for in myself.

(***)

It was around three in the morning when the music that was welling up inside me just became too much to bare. It bubbles up within my chest and tingles down my arms into my tips of my fingers, demanding composition. I knew this composition would be sad and beautiful, and would make the hearts of those who heard it ache with longing and sadness.

I took my violin from my case and left my room, not wanting to wake up the people in my building just because my soul would not me rest. My body still hurt like hell, but my heart hurt worst of all. Kalin was suffering, in the care of men who did not want to take care of him, seeming to want something from him. I hated to see anything suffer, and my heart wept for him, even as my brain tried to come up with a way to ease my suffering.

I found my way out into the courtyard, by the large fountain that sloshed water high into the air before it fell down in loud splats. The night was beautiful, crisp, clean, the smell of jasmine and lemongrass drifting to me on the breeze as I took a seat on a dry spot on the fountain. The sky was clear, the stars alive, my waiting audience.

I place the violin to my shoulder and without pause, allowed the music to flow through my fingers, finding the strings without preamble. It was something I never did in front of other people, putting on such a blatant display of my talents. My violin was not my favorite instrument, nor had it been my choice to start playing it, but it was always perfect for the haunting melodies my heart created. I had brought strong men to their knees, and mad even the most serious person tear up. I knew how to get inside their hearts, and my music wound a tale they could not turn away from.

The noise from the fountain covered up most of my haunted melody, but some still managed to get through if you knew that you were meant to listen. To the people in the buildings with would sound like nothing more than a small melody that wafted to them while they were sleeping, something to change their dreams.

With that thought, my eyes darted up to a building to my far left, and I spotted a window on the top floor, the curtains pulled back, the window open, the light on to allow me to see a shadow figure leaning out.

Crystal.

She somehow always knew when the music was going to be too much for me to bare. Maybe she felt the same thing I did. But she always listen to my music, she was the only one who knew how often I did this, and at what time. She always encouraged me to record my music, to get it out there, but I didn't want too. My music was my heart, my soul, my very essence, and to share it so casually with thousands of people felt like I would be lowering myself. Crystal understood, so I allowed her to listen. But as for my parents, and my siblings, they always go pre-made music, something beautiful but not personal. How could I let them inside me like that? They would never look at me the same way again.

Crystal always commented on how sorrowful my music always was, and I think she was starting to understand that sorrow was etched into my bones. My life had known endless amount of sorrow, from my own family more than anything else. From the children at school who teased me because I had skipped three grades and they would have put me higher if they could. Teased and tormented, even drawn blood, until it grew so bad my parents had to pull me out and start homeschooling me. I had touched on every instrument they could think held a beautiful sound, but the violin they had decided was the best. My brother had picked the paino, saying he hated the sound of the violin. And me, against all of my parents urgings, had picked the guitar. And to piss them off even further, and electric guitar was in my closet.

I used all three together often, making my own music, twisting the lyrics this way and that, loving the power at the ends of my fingers.

My music was different this night though. This night, the taste to it was different. It was not sorrow for myself, but sorrow for another, a person who was visibly a prisoner, just as I was in my soul. I had come to this school because I could escape, and because my parents had wanted me too. They were upset that I had taken hip hop dancing, and the science classes, and even the art class. They wanted me to do nothing but focus on my music. But I was as far out of their reach I could get, and I still was not free.

I looked away from Crystal, about to close them when I spotted a shadow figure in the window on the first floor. As if knowing they were spotted, they leaned forward, and the moon illuminated Kalin's handsome face.

My breath hitched, my heart pounded, but for some reason I was not afraid of him hearing the compassion in me. It was for him, and his eyes said he understood. I smiled and nodded to him, seeing him nod back before I closed my eyes and the music changed against my will. It changed into something sweet, a promise, an understanding. Something I did not know I had felt inside me was welling out and telling him without words I understood.

Maybe Crystal was right. Maybe if we had met in different circumstance it would have been just like a romance story. But we were both prisoners held my different chains, and as of yet we did not know how to help each other.

But suddenly an idea sparked.

My eyes opened again, seeking his. I could tell my music was touching him, his gaze surprised, he glanced down at his chest. Like I was _haunting _him. Maybe I was.

I was haunted by him too.


	3. Checkmate

**Thank you to those who posted comments, they are greatly appreciated and make me feel inspired for the next chapter. Heres a token of my thanks, a segment in Kalin's POV.**

**Kalin's POV**

Beautiful and haunting, more than any human ever had a right to be. Her music was for me, a man she did not know, and it had touched the heart that I had forgotten about, seeped between the cracks in and made come to life. It was something strange for me, to be able to look at this woman, and have her chase away the madness that haunted me for most of my life, the curse of my kind.

But looking at her, I felt clarity, even if it was dull and always fled when she was out of sight. I found myself wishing to speak to her, to hear her speak to me once more as if I were just a normal human being as she was. She had shown me kindness when no one else had, and I often now found her name and face appearing in my mind. Her lips full and red, eyes as blue as the sky the last time I can remember seeing it. I had always thought I would be into long legged amazon women, with a tiny waist and over large breast.

But this female was none of that. She was somewhat short, a good foot or so shorter than I was, with waist long blond hair, and she was not tiny, but she was not large either. She had a shapely waist that gave way to nicely rounded hips and thighs. Her breasts were nice and plump, not overly large, but exaggerated her figure. Her skin was softly tanned, just barley a kiss from the sun, but it suited her well.

Her hands were graceful, with long fingers that ended with short nails, and each finger pad was callous, on both hands. There was not a single flaw that I could see with her, and I hungered for the sight of her more than I had ever hungered for anything.

I heard one of my guards in the other room stir, but I ignore them. I could not tear my gaze away as she sat there playing her violin without so much as a pause. Her music was beautiful, compelling, and even though she did not know it, a calling. Her music was a loud calling out to me, telling me something about her. She needed someone in her life, someone who would cherish her, who would cause that aching sadness that filled her eyes and notes to edge away from her heart. I did not know if I was such man, but I would kill for the chance.

Under my muzzle, my fangs sharpened at the thought that while I sit here, some other male could be touching the female that fate had clearly chosen for me. While she was out of my sight, I would be plagued with the madness, unable to comprehend the world around me. And this burning jealousy that I felt building inside me made that madness no better. I wanted to kill every male on this campus that would dare touch her like she was his.

The music was over too soon, and she kept her eyes locked with mine until she disappeared into her building. I pushed back the madness, watching intently, struggling to do such a simple thing. There, a light flicked on on the fifth floor.

I slumped back onto my bed, shifting in the straight jacket, wishing the guards would take it off. But they had no drugs tonight, and they knew I could kill them would they allow me to be free.

But tonight had not been wasted. I now knew where her bedroom was, and once I got free, I would go to her, and I would make her mine as fate intended.

I pictured her face just as the madness overtook me and I roared with wanting her.

(***)

Rebecca dashed down the halls as fast as she could, glad that they were empty since all classes were in session. Her feet pounded on the stone floors, her breath coming in hard pants, her sketch book and pencil case clutched to her chest with one hand, and her violin case clutched in the other.

She had overslept, and now she was scrambling like hell to get to her art class before she was TO late. She must have mindlessly clicked off her alarm when it had gone off this morning, which would make sense, since she tossed and turned most of last night. For some reason music kept playing in her head, and she kept picturing Kalin. She wished someone were in bed with her, it made her feel lonely, but she had long ago decided she would never bring a man into her bed unless she was sure she was going to spend the rest of her life with him.

It has intrigued Rebecca that that was how it would work long ago. Men could accept the invitation into other woman's bed, but the moment he brought one into his they were bound, and it was a way of saying they were officially in a relationship. She wanted it to work like that, to have a man willingly come into her bed knowing she wanted more than a fleeting night.

She tripped just as she reached the door, hitting it and stumbling in as it sung open and hit one of Kalin's guards that had been standing idly by it. She froze, panting, realizing every eye was on her. She glanced at the guard, to find him heatedly glaring at her, and she figured step one was done.

Make them hate her.

"Rebecca, so glad you could join us." her teachers voice floated to her from somewhere in the room, and her face flushed.

"I am sorry, really I am." she said sincerely as she made her way over to her seat. Kalin was hunched over, but as if sensing her, he sat up straight and glanced over his shoulder. She gave him a smile, and he gave her a small nod in return. She sat down, and pulled out a pencil and she opened up her empty sketch book.

_Hi_, she wrote, tapping it to get his attention. He glanced over, read it, then seemed to give her a look, as if she were expecting him to actually be able to respond, whether it be by writing or by speech. She flushed again, but she was persistent.

_Do you think your 'watchers' have a problem with me?_

He read it, then gave a quick glance over his shoulder, glaring at them to seem normal, then gave a subtle nod. But she could have sworn the corner of his eyes were crinkled, as if he were . . . smiling?

Okay, so they had a problem with her, that was good, because that meant they would be out to get her, and that fit perfectly in with her plan.

She continued on with the rest of the class, doodling on her sketchbook, and chatting to Kalin as if he were actually responding to her. Until Jimmy, Crystals boyfriend, stepped in.

"Hey, Rebecca, why the hell are you talking to this psychopath? He beat the crap out of you just yesterday!" he leaned heavily on their table, and she blinked up him, finding him glaring heatedly at Kalin, who was glaring even more heatedly back.

"What? What do you mean he beat the crap out of me yesterday? No he didn't." she was honestly confused, she had thought that it was just a misunderstand, a cross of information. But Jimmy actually really believed that Kalin was the one who beat the crap out of her. She frowned at him, and he frowned back.

"Oh, come on Rebecca, don't tell me you are gonna cover for this guy! He threw you clear across the room!"

"And would you like to tell me how he managed that, since he is a little tied up?" Jimmy looked back at Kalin, who stared motionlessly back. Jimmy frowned for a moment, before speaking again.

"I guess he must have gotten free or something. I know what I saw, and you defiantly did not throw yourself across the room and into table and chairs." he sounded more resolved than he had mere moments ago, and for some reason it set Rebecca's teeth on edge.

"Jimmy," she began, but she caught the slight motion Kalin made. If she hadn't of been paying attention to him, she wouldn't have caught it, just a slight shake of his head, could have been mistaken for him shifting his head slightly.

"Just drop it," she said instead, giving him a good kick under the table so he would get the idea she wanted him to leave. She glanced down at her doodles, her mind unable to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Every single person in this room has seen what has happened yesterday, but now that she looked at their expressions, she saw the looked at Kalin with fear and distaste, not wonderment like the day before.

"I don't understand," she mumbled, and saw Kalin give what seemed to be a shrug next to her. She sighed, laying her head on the desk, feeling the worried looks from her classmates. It irritated her, so she lifted her head to meet each one of their gazes with a heated glare of her own. They backed down quickly enough.

Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw her brothers name flashing across the screen, and sighed, knowing it would be nothing good if he was calling her. He had "coincidentally" moved into the same town that her college was in a year before she had made the move. And now, her parents didn't know it, but he often forced her to play the piano in the nightclub he owned.

"Hello?" she said quietly as she put the phone to her ear.

"Where are you?" he demanded, not even bothering with pleasantries.

"In art class."

"Good, come to the club."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. What the hell did you think I meant? Tomorrow?"

"But, I have classes!" she sputtered.

"What is your next class?" her eyes slid to her violin. She wanted to lie, but she just didn't have it in her.

"Violin," she answered on a breath, waiting for it.

"I don't care then. Do you have your piano with you?"

"No, but I can go get it."

"Forget it, not enough time, what do you have?"

"Only my violin, brother," her voice was getting lower and lower.

"Ah, what the hell, Rebecca. Go get your fucking Piano and be here in half an hour." and he hung up with a loud click. She felt tears burn in her eyes, but she blinked them away before turning to give Kalin a somewhat watery smile. But he looked like he had heard the conversation, but that was impossible.

"Got to go, sorry, Kalin." and with that, she scooped up her stuff and made he way to the door. But, of course, one of his guards got in the way. She glared at him, unafraid.

"You know, maybe you two should do you job." she snapped, shifting her case for a more comfortable hold, and to hit him if she needed too.

"And who says we aren't?" he hissed, his buddy coming close to his side. She could feel Kalin's eyes on her back, burning holes with curiosity.

"I do."

"Oh, and what exactly aren't we doing?"

"Watching him, taking care of him, he should not need anything, since you guys are meant to provide."

"Sounds like a volunteer to me," the other guard said when his buddy glanced at him.

"Yeah, sounds like you will be watching him now on." he crossed his arms, and she blinked up at him, appearing surprised.

"Say what?"

"I said, you have officially signed on to be his baby sitter."

"No, he doesn't need baby sitting, he needs tutoring."

"Well, you can do that then."

"Hell no, go fuck yourself."

"Would you like to repeat that?" he hissed, leaning towards her. Her eyes widened, and she took a hastey step back.

"Fine, whatever, I will do a better job then you two assholes," she hissed and jumped around their solid bodies, glancing back when she was just out the doors. Kalin was staring at her, obviously wondering what the hell she was up too.

She took a deep breath, just hoping that she had made a good move, and that she really hadn't just invited a crazy man into her bedroom.


	4. Blanket Of Darkness

Rebecca arrived at her brothers club an hour later, panting with exhaustion, her piano case clutched her in her hand, her hand aching from the weight. She bent over, hand on her knees, trying to regain her breath before she went in and faced her brother. She always dreaded when he called, he was always arrogant and bossy, and he was never the kindest person. Half the time people believed he was her manager or her boyfriend, not her brother, considering they shared no physical traits whatsoever. Not to mention their personality's fled in opposite directions.

She had just caught her breath and went to straiten up when the back door flew open and her brother came rushing out. His face was already twisted with impatience, and it was tinged with the hard edge of anger when he saw her standing there.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he hissed, coming out to stand before her. She flinched back, knowing from experience he could get more than just verbally abusive when he was drunk and in a bad mood, as he obviously was. He reeked of alcohol, and it made Rebecca wriggle her nose in distaste, even though she raised her chin at him.

"I am catching my breath," she said defiantly, refusing to be pushed around by her brother. Her head was pounding for some reason, her eyes sensitive the the sunlight more than usual. She felt a little more sluggish, like he body was heavy, even though she had plenty of energy. Those were signs of her condition, but it was much to soon for it to be that.

"Why would you be doing that? I called you an hour ago to get your ass down here. When I tell you to come I expect you to haul ass, not take your dear sweet time." she stepped back when he took a step forward, tightening her grip on the heavy case. She would knock her brother on his ass if she had too, she had done it more than once before.

"Well since I don't have a car, it is kind of hard, _brother_." she sneered the word, and he ran a hand though his dark brown hair, his blue eyes were unfocused from the alcohol, and he swayed on his feet. Rebecca knew better than to help, that is what she had been struck for last time.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter now, get in and practice a song. I don't care which one, I am putting you on in and hour." he turned his back to her, stumbling slightly.

"Only and hour to practice?" she gasped, putting on a show like she couldn't do it. She could, but she just hoped with his impaired mind he wouldn't remember that. He turned back to her slightly, a frown on his face. He wasn't angry or frustrated anymore, and his shift in mood had her weary.

"I will pay you double what I normally pay you, sound like a deal?" he drawled, and she bit her lip, as if she were actually considering it. She didn't need the money, her brother didn't know it, but she made enough money to not only cover her own tuition three times over but to also pay for room and board, pay full for a new car, and anything else she might want. She did gigs and tutoring in her spare time, and they paid well for her talents. Not to mention, she was being paid to go to and teach in three of her seven classes that she had chosen.

But no one knew that, and she was gonna keep it that way.

"Fine, deal," she said, just as her phone gave a loud shrill sound as it began to ring. Her brother looked annoyed again, muttering something as she pulled it out to look at the front of her HTC. She bit her lip as she saw Philip Matrin.

"Who is it?" he brother snapped, and she knew this was not gonna end good.

"Its my doctor," she answered truthfully.

"Why the hell does he have you number?"

"I asked him to call me, I was having some tests done." she lied.

"What kind of tests?"

"That is none of your business," she snipped and answered the phone.

"Hello?" she said politely.

"Hey, Rebecca, sorry to call you at such a time, I know you must be in class right now." Philip Martin had been her doctor all her life. When she had moved out here for her schooling he had insisted that he transfer, since no one else knew how to handle her condition that she had had since birth. He was kind and considerate and she trusted him completely.

"No, actually I am with my brother right now. Is there a problem?" there had to be, he would not call her if it was not something important.

"Yes, actually, I was just hoping to discuss another possible solution for you, since all the things we have tried have proved to have no affect." Then he paused, "Why are you with your brother? Are your classes not in session?" there was suspicion in his tone, and it made Rebecca flustered.

"I, uh, well . . ." _My brother is a pompous asshole as you very well know from the time he refused to visit with me when I was hospitalized. _Only Philip had stayed with her through the night, even when his shift ended. Se was a child, alone, afraid of the coldness of the hospital, the smell making her sick. But he had stayed with her, bringing her movies to watch, coloring books and things like that. He would also talk to her, and had one time made her laugh so hard she had started choking. Lucky she didn't have to have her heart rate measure, otherwise they would have had a hard time explaining why he was in her room with her after hours.

"Just come see me. And if he says anything its a doctors order." and he hung up. She bit her lip, lowering her head and she went back to her brother, who was looking at her with angry expectation.

"What did he say?" he snipped, and she flinched away again, not wanting to aurgue with him but seeing that she had no choice. She kicked the gravel under her feet, hoping if she could avoid his gaze he would be less angry.

"He said I have to come into the hospital right now. There is a problem with my tests and hes worried it may affect my health so he is going to run new ones. I have to be there for that."

"It can wait." he said bluntly and turned to go inside.

"Are you kidding me!" she screamed, hurt bubbling over her fear. Her brother stopped, and she screamed at him again.

"If my life means so fucking little to you, take this piano case and shove it up your ass because I am fucking through with the bullshit you put me through!" and she threw the case at his feet and took off running. The hospital was about three or so miles away . . .

And it gave her just enough time to cry her eyes out before she got there.

"Are you having any side affects to the medication I gave you the last time you were here three days ago?" Philip asked as he drew out a needle from the draw and popped the cap off. His hair was a chestnut brown color and just long enough for him to push around. His eyes were a deep blue and his face was strongly structure and cleanly shaven. He slide the needle into her arm with practiced expertise so good she wouldn't have known it was there if she wasn't looking.

"No, not that I know off. What is this test for?"

"To see your blood count level. Have you been stressed or upset?" he ask the last with a pointed look, daring her to lie. Her eyes were red and puffy, and he knew her too well anyways.

"Yes." she said bluntly as he slide the needle out and went through the process of putting it into the machine.

"You know it isn't good for your body." he said softly with his back turned, and her heart melted as his concern. She had known this man her whole life, and he was always there when she needed him. Too bad he was like a good twenty something years older than she was, and yet he had a youthful face. He had been the first one to discover her condition when she was a baby, and he had stuck with her since then. You see, Rebecca overproduced blood, to such an extent that she had to have her blood drawn every month, a pint for every visit. Some said it was her over population of blood that attributed to her talents, but Philip disagreed.

"What has been going on?" he questioned, turning to her while the test ran. She glanced around the familiar check up room that Philip always put her in. The equipment and supplies put in a unorthodox but neat order that only he understood.

"Met a new kid in my class, he seems nice."

"Seems? Why only seems?" there was honest curiosity in his voice, and he tilted his head in curiosity. She shrugged, pulling at the paper she sat on on the exam table, plucking at it with two fingers in an attempt to avoid meeting his eyes.

"He is in a straight jacket and muzzle, but the two times I have spoken to him, he seems like he would be a nice and polite person."

"Uh, Rebecca, I don't think you need me to tell you how this sounds to me." he said softly, and she glanced up to meet his gaze, only for him to quickly look away with an odd look in his eye.

"Yeah, I know, what everyone else is saying. But you know what, I would like a to make friends with him, so I stuck myself in a position where I knew I would be able to spend some time with him without those two stupid body guards hanging around and throwing me into more tables." she snapped, frustrated that he didn't see what she was seeing. That something told her she needed to do this because she wanted to move into a place where she could get to know Kalin better. Also, she wanted to free him, and she just needed to gain the courage to do it.

Suddenly though, Philips gaze was once again locked on her with a serious intensity.

"What did you say?" he asked in a low voice.

"I said he is in a straight jacket and a muzzle."

"And he is in your school? Why?"

"I dunno, but his body guards don't like me, so they stuck me with baby sitting duty because they just let him sit in class and do nothing and then claim he practices by himself."

"They threw you around? Are you seriously injured?"

"No, I healed quickly, like you know I do. But he seems so solemn, Philip, ans I can tell he has so much to say. They keep claiming he is crazy but the small time I have spent in his company argues otherwise. It was the only thing I could think to do." she watched as Philip sighed, finally looking away from her with a few muttered words.

"Calm down, you know it isn't good for you body."

"Yeah, yeah, how many times are you gonna tell me the same information in one sitting?"

"As many times as it takes for you not to show up in my office with red eyes and high blood pressure and with your emotions so haywire your stomach cannot even handle anything. When you walk into my office with a calm smile on your face, that is the last time I will ever tell you to calm down and the effects it has on your body. Do we have a deal?"  
"Yeah, sure." it was never going to happen, and they both knew it wouldn't. He family would never leave her alone, and she would always be used and pressured by them. The only one who didn't seriously use her was her older sister, Clara, who had moved out her as soon as she had found out their brother had. She was a preschool teacher and often let Rebecca come in and spend some time with the children when their brother was too harsh on her and she needed to wind down. She enjoyed it, and it always helped her calm her sisters frazzled nerves. She was the oldest out of them all, and she had never even made a small remark about how Rebecca looked nothing like her brother or her older sister.

"Um, Rebecca?" she barley heard him as he was bent over the machine lens, no doubt looking at her blood. Her head was whirling, and she felt oddly dizzy. Her stomach was churning, and the only thing she wanted to do suddenly was sleep, but she was also uncomfortable, as if her skin was a little too tight.

"Hm?" was the only articulate response she could form.

"This can't be right," she heard him say, seeing him shake his head out of slightly blurred eyes.

"What?"

"Your blood multiplication has almost tripled in speed, what have you been doing?" She frowned just as he began to turn to her.

"What does that . . ." and suddenly her vision just went black.


	5. Realization

**Authors Note; Thank you to all those who not only reviewed but added me to your lists. If you have opinions or suggestions, leave a comment, I am always happy to hear from you guys.**

Slowly Rebecca began to come back to the world of the living from the black void she had been sucked into. The first thing she began aware of was her arm was burning, and her nose was tingling from the strong scent of bleach. Where was she? Hadn't she gone to her brothers? Ah, no, Philip had called and . . . .

Well crap, she couldn't remember.

She groaned when she tried to stir and her head began swimming as if someone were putting pressure on it from all sides. When she opened her eyes everything was spinning and swirling, and she quickly covered them to stop the sicking sight.

"Ah, you are finally awake." Philips voice reached her ears, but it took a moment for her scrambled brain to decipher what it was he had said.

"I think I am going to be sick," was her slightly strained response.

"No, your not," he assured on a laugh, and she felt his hand pat her right arm, the one that wasn't burning. "Especially since I know you have nothing in your stomach. I think the best thing you could manage would be to dry heave, and that is never pleasant, so I don't suggest it."

"You speak as if I can prevent myself from puking." she huffed, sucking air in through her mouth so that she didn't have to deal with the overwhelming bleach smell, and it helped settle her stomach a little bit.

"Of course you can! GIRD YOUR LOINS!" he laughed when she weakly slapped at him for yelling, taking her hand to help comfort her.

"What the hell is with the bleach smell anyway?" she demanded as she removed her hand to experiment with her eyes again. The ceiling didn't do a swirling vortex spin, so she assumed that meant it was safe enough to sit up from the lying position on the examination table. She glanced down at her left arm, finding just above her wrist was covered with a bandage. "And what is with this?" she demanded and went to tear the bandage off. She was never one for patience.

But he caught her hand, meeting her eyes, letting her see that he was now serious, and she better listen up.

"Do you remember what happened before you blacked out?" he asked, his voice level, his eyes not leaving her.

"You mean before I was sucked into the black vortex of doom? No, but I assume it may be important." she joked, attempting to smile but letting it fall flat when she saw that his expression did not change. She swallowed heavily, biting her lip nervously, for she had never seen him like this in her whole life.

"Your blood production levels have been enhanced three fold, Rebecca. Now more than ever you need to avoid stress and strain on your body, for it may have disastrous results like it almost did. You need to avoid becoming angry, upset. . . "

"Hell, can I feel any emotions?" she snapped, irritated.

"I am sorry, Rebecca. I wish I could take this from you, but I can't."

"What does it mean, though?"

"It means that from now on, you will have to come in to have your blood drawn once a week instead of every month to a month and a half."

"Wait, are you saying I am basically going to be overproducing four extra pints of blood a month instead of just one?"

"That is what it seems like, so yes. I am really sorry, Rebecca." he let her hand go, rubbing the back of his neck in what seemed to be an uncomfortable gesture. She took the advantage to take the bandage off, finding a cut running vertically up her arm, and even though it was stitched up neatly if was somewhat jagged and angry looking. It shouldn't have been jagged or angry looking, if it were done with a scalpel. She tenderly touched it, and Philip spoke again.

"I had to do that in order to save your life. I didn't have enough time to set up an IV, and you would not have bled fast enough."

"Why is it jagged?" she questioned, looking at him. He looked a little perplexed, and she was surprised when she realized it seemed like he was looking for an excuse.

"I-I had to do it with the needle I had in my pocket, my apologies. It will scar." she laughed at that, trying to lighten the suddenly solemn mood. Yeah, this sucked, but it wasn't Philips fault, and she would just have to take better care of herself from now on.

Yeah right.

"I don't care if it scars, I will just make up a cool story for the kids about it." finally, Philip gave a tentative smile, seeming a little sheepish.

"You do love those kids." he admitted.

"You know what I do not love though?" she asked with a blank face.

"What?"

"Bleach." and he laughed.

(***)

Rebecca was roused by the knock on her door. She had been sitting at her kitchen table, staring down at her sketch pad with a blank expression that spoke volumes. She loved art, she really did, but she could not come up with something on the spot, she had to have had it on her mind for awhile before on or seen something inspiring. She was passing her art class with an A only because when she did manage to draw she could draw in large quantities and in wonderful detail, and it made up for her missed work. All of her others classes were easy, which meant art was the only one she was going to have to worry about since Philip had called the school to tell them she was not allowed in any of her classes for the next week.

Frigging doctors orders.

The knock on her door came again, harder and more demanding, and it grated on her. Yesterday had sucked, and she had gotten little to no sleep the night before so she had snuck into the dance classroom in order to get in some practice and to help tire her body out.

"Answer the fuckin' door!" she jumped when the demand was followed with the door being struck. She leapt up and yanked the door open with a simple twist of the knob to find Kalin and his two guards standing in her door way.

"Here." the one on the right snipped, shoving Kalin with enough force to send him stumbling into her dorm room.

"What the hell," she snapped, catching his arm to steady him, noticing he was slumping heavily, and his breathing was labored. Worry spiked for him, and she glared at them, helping him to support himself. "Did you guys hurt him?"

"Nah, he hurt himself," one snorted, and the laughed together until she slammed the door in their faces and locked it with a click. Kalin managed to lift his face slightly, and she saw his worried gaze on the door and understood.

"Don't worry, solid oak, I doubt even their fat asses could break it down."

"Wanna repeat that!" one yelled from outside, the other muttering agreement.

"Fuck off jackass before I call campus security."

"Fine, whatever, hes your damn problem now." and she heard them snicker again before their retreating footsteps.

"Finally," she huffed, and gave a gasp when one of Kalin's legs gave in and she had to struggle to keep him upright. She lead him over to the chair she had been sitting up, hearing him groan in pain.

"Kalin? Kalin, are you okay?" without thinking she grabbed his face, tilting his head back so she could look. His left eye was swelling, obviously from being struck, and she could tell from his unharmed eye that his pupil was dilated, a sign he was drugged.

"Oh my God, they drugged you and beat you. Oh god," from the sound of his labored breathing, she was worried on how badly they had hurt him, and without thinking, she pushed him forward and began to undo the clips on the back of his straight jacket. She heard him mumbling weakly, and she figured he was telling her to stop, or ask what she was doing. The clips were fairly simple, easy to quickly put together but strong. Finally, when the last clip came loose and his arms fell free she reached for the clasps on the back of his muzzle.

And he fliped the fuck out.

He yelled, and leapt away from her, knocking over the table and all the chairs, and stumbling and hitting her nightstand.

"Kalin! Stop, I am just trying to see if they did any damage to your face." but he began shaking his head hard, panic in his eyes. She approached slowly, pausing a few feet away from him, studying him with interest. "Did they hurt your face Kalin? Do you think I am going to be frightened by what I see?" without a pause he nodded, and then shook his head. Yes and no. Ooooookay.

When he held out his arms, as if asking her to retie the straight jacket, it clicked.

"Are you afraid of hurting me, Kalin?" he froze, and when his emerald eyes met hers they were tormented. Helplessly, he nodded, and her heart broke for him. She took the last two steps towards him and threw her arms around his torso, hugging him fiercely. He froze, then seemed to try to step away from her, but she held him even more tightly. His arms dropped to his side, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do, and she spoke.

"I trust you Kalin. I know I don't know you, but I trust you not to hurt me, it is gonna be okay, you just have to trust me, okay?" there was a pause, and then he sighed, before nodding. She pulled back, reaching to pull off the straight jacket, finding a plain white T shirt underneath. It was stained with spots of blood, and it made her breath hitch.

"Sit, please." she indicated the side of the bed and didn't wait for him to comply before she made a dash for her cellphone, pressing the button for Philips speed dial. He picked up on the second ring, greeting her friendly, but she broke in.

"Philip, I do not need you to ask questions on anything I am about you ask you but I need your help desperatly."

"You sound stressed, you know you are not supposed to get stressed!"

"I know, but-"

"If you don't stay calm you blood levels-"

"Fuck the blood levels, Philip! I have a man here who may have broken ribs or fractures to several other bones and hell maybe internal bleeding! Now either fucking help me or put another goddamn doctor on who will." she glanced at Kalin, seeing him slumping and swaying, knowing he must be in a lot of pain.

"Okay, describe everything to me step by step."

"Okay," she sighed in relief, kneeling in front of Kalin, putting a hand on his jeaned knee reassuringly. "He seems to be heavily drugged, and in a lot of pain. His pupils are dilated and he seems like he is swaying back and forth, almost like he is trying not to sleep."

"Okay, you have those needles I gave you in case of emergency's? Well, now is one of them, I need you to quickly take a blood sample, hurry!" she did as instructed, noting that Kalin did not stir as all from his stupor. Great, the one time she had his arms untied and he was beaten to hell. She put it in her fridge and continued on with her examination. Half way through, Kalin passed out, and she had to lay him on the bed to continue. His ribs were bruised, not broken, and he did not have any internal injuries. But Rebecca could not help but admire his body, strongly muscled and sun kissed to absolute perfection that she wanted to run her hands over him in a more intimate way than just examination.

"The only thing I would worry about is brain damage, since you said that his eye is swelling up as if he took a hit. He may have a concussion, but you will not know until the drug wears off and you are able to look as his eyes properly." he sighed wearily before speaking again. "This is they guy I told you to stay away from, isn't it?"

"Yes," she said quietly, she was sitting on the floor, her back against the bed, and she was tired.

"God sakes, Rebecca!"

"They beat him, Phil. They beat him so the point where there was blood on his shirt and everything. How can you ask me to stop seeing him now when coming here may be the only way to prevent this." her voice was so quiet he knew she had already made up her mind. He sighed again, and she heard him rubbing his face.

"I need you to bring me the blood sample when you get a chance, so I can take a look and see what they are giving him."

"I will bring it as soon as they take him. Are you working the late shift?"

"I always do, you know this is my life."

"Yeah," she gave a forced dried laugh. "Get a wife."

He went quiet for a moment, before speaking again.

"I have to go, Rebecca. Watch him, I have a strange feeling he is not going to remember much was he wakes up."

"What makes you say that?" she asked curiously.

"Just a hunch."

"Okay, well, I will see you later then."

"Oh, and Rebecca?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't do anything too stupid, kay?"

And with a click he was gone, leaving her alone with Kalin once again. She sighed, twisting to look at him sleeping on her bed, wishing things were different, that she knew what to do.

"What am I going to do with you?" she said softly, and stood to straighten up her room.


	6. Dreaming Of You In Madness

**Authors Note; okay, thank you for the reviews. I got one big hint from you guys, lol, update sooner. I will do my best, thanks guys!**

**Kalin's POV**

My body burned and ached as if I had been doused with gasoline and then set aflame. Though the madness consumed me since Rebecca was out of my sight, some fleeting thoughts of sanity still managed to reach me. I knew I had seen her, could almost swear that she had held me, touched me, and my body had eased from pain into bliss. I almost remember the look of fear and worry on her face; for me, she felt those for me, a man she did not know. How I had managed to keep a grasp on these memories I did not know, for the drug my guards had given me usually completely swiped my memory clean of all events that had occurred. How she had managed to root herself so deeply into my mind was a mystery, but I could not keep a hold of sanity long enough to sort it out.

I moaned as my heeling wounds sent shard of pain through my body, and bit my lip in order to prevent myself from making too much noise. The wounds they had given me would heal by the time that tomorrow came, but I was not willing to risk asking them for any more by making a sound. I was in my room, the window the only source of light in the room as I sat on the bed right next to it. I was waiting for her, hoping that tonight would be one of the nights she came into my sight to play that melody I longed to hear. I needed to have my sanity again, I wanted it, as much as I wanted her.

I had awoke in Rebecca's room with her dozing at the side of the bed, her head drooping to her chest before she would jerk up before dozing again. Then a moment of panic gripped me to find that my straight jacket was not only undone but it was done. Oh god, I could have hurt her. I leapt up and grabbed it, startling her awake, hearing her make some sort of protest about how I should not be up and about but my mind was in turmoil. The drug had dulled my senses, and she did not understand how now, to be so close to her without anything to hinder me, I wanted her with a fierce ache. The last part of chivalry in me knew I had to make sure I could not do anything I regretted. I had been waiting for her for over four hundred years, it was dangerous for me to be free around her when she smelled so delicious, when she was willingly reaching out to touch me. I wanted to feel her, to taste her, but I knew it I made that move now I would chase away any chance I had. Not to mention binding her to me without managing to get away from my captors would do nothing but put her life in danger.

_Don't let her touch you. Suck up what you want and what you need and think about her. You have to take care of her, don't do anything to hurt the one thing that will be your salvation. _My own thoughts snipped at me, so I jerked out of her reach before she could touch me, knowing it would crumple my will power. I dragged on the straight jacket with quick movements, sudden panic at the footsteps I heard coming down the hall giving me the speed I needed, even with my body hurting. When I indicated for her to do up the straps, she merely blinked at me, as if she thought that maybe I really was crazy. But then the bang on the door made her jump, she made hast to re-do the clips as fast as she could. They continued to bang on the door, but for a moment I blocked her body with mine, leaning as close as I dared, bowing slightly to meet her eyes and inhaling the most beautiful scent I had ever smelled. The warning must have been clear, because her face became solemn and she nodded, and moved around me to open the door.

When she handed me over to the guards she played it out well, acting as if I had caused some problems and they were wasting her time. It was a good move, it guaranteed that they would bring me back, hoping to cause her misery.

I waited, but she did not come to fountain. I waited until the dawn broke, and then I succumbed to sleep once again, my body needing it in order to repair the damage done. I wondered what had happened between me and my Becca. But I guess that would have to wait.

I once again dreamed in madness.

(***)

**Rebecca's POV**

I handed the blood to Philip, watching as he began to put it into the machine. I leaned against the counter, rubbing my face to try and shake off the strong need for sleep I was feeling. I was mentally exhausted, not to mention my arm was burning like I had stuck it in the fires of hell, and it was refusing to let up, even with the ice pack Philip had given me in sympathy. The events of the day made no sense to me, and everything seemed to blur together into one big smudge, and I didn't know if even after sleep things would straighten themselves out.

The lab we were in was empty of anyone else but us. There was tone of machinery and whatnot, some having little blinking lights, signaling their silent work. Philip was always working late in here, doing experiments on my blood in hopes of finding a way of stopping my body from doing what it was doing. I sometimes came to keep him company, but that was only when he asked me to come in to give a fresh sample. I was hoping Philip could give me another little piece of this puzzle though, because I could not seem to find the pieces on my own.

"You look tired," Philip observed as he plopped down in his rollie chair and rubbed the back of his neck. I smiled, tilting my head back, enjoying the irony.

"So do you. Then again, I am trying to make up blood, and you have not slept in probably over twenty four hours."

"I had some important experiments running that I could not leave alone." he said in defense, though by the quirk in his lips I knew he was enjoying the friendly banter.

"Yeah, well, I had a guy in my dorm room I thought was going to die, so I think mine trumps yours."

"No, because mine could save your life."

"And my actions may have saves his." I hissed, surprised at how I suddenly jumped to the defense on this subject so quickly. I did not know Kalin well, but I was sure as hell not going to let him die.

"I am sorry to say this Rebecca, but I value your life above his."

"I thought Doctors were meant to cherish all life."

"Well call me biased, but I have been with you since you were a baby." our eyes met, neither of us willing to back down on our opinion. Finally, I sighed and looked away, wondering if I was just cranky of if this was something I should worry about.

"Then why did you help me save him?"

"Because your life was not in danger, I and I feel like I had too. That man is involved in something, I can feel it, and I know you can too. The only difference in us two is that I know when not to go sticking my nose in something and you seem to dive headfirst." he paused with raised eye brows when my phone began to ring. I glanced down with a sigh, before hitting the silence button without a pause. "Who is that?"

"Who do you think? My brother demanding I come play for him."

"At one in the morning?"

"Yeah, he has been calling none stop since yesterday. I actually have to silence my phone so I can even get some sleep. But I am sorry I got here so late. I tried to look up drugs that they give mental patients that would cause that kind of affect, but I could not narrow it down." she gave a sheepish smile, her blond hair peeking out from underneath her hoody hood. "And also I had to take a long route since it was so late."

"Well, I am glad you got here safe. And this will tell us exactly what was in his system if you got the blood sample soon enough. From what you tell me it seems like they do not keep him drugged up often, so I am hoping they gave him the drug soon before they brought him to your dorm, and I am also hoping they did not spend too long roughing him up after they gave it to him."

"You have any suspicions?" she questioned with a quirked brow.

"No, but I don't like the feeling I am getting." he was cut off when the machine beeped, and then the printer began, spitting out their results. He grabbed it, studying it for a moment, before his eyes widened and he muttered, "Well, that cant be right."

"What?" she questioned, automatically interested.

"It says here he has large doses of Rohypnol in his system." Rebecca paused for a moment, racking her brain for answers, then her eye brows rose in surprised comprehension.

"Isn't that a date rape drug?"

"Yes, actually, though its proper name is Flunitrazepam, and I have never seen it given in this high of a dosage."

"But you have seen it administered in cases other than date rape?" he suddenly seemed nervous, like he had made a mistake, and edgy.

"Yeah, but, uh, not regularly."

"Why would they give it too him?" she inquired, trying not to push past the edges of his comfort zone. There were always those moments when Philip said or did something that didn't make sense, and she had learned to just let it go and move on with it. Maybe someday she would learn the secret part of his life, but until then she would just have to view him in the same way as she always had.

"To make sure he had no recollection of what they had done to him, I would assume. Or maybe they were hoping in his mindless state that he would harm you in some shape or form." he gave her a pointed look, which she met head on with a glare of her own.

"I will not stop letting him come to see me, Philip. He was worried about hurting me even under the influence of the drug. He is a good person, I know he is, and I need to figure this out. He isn't crazy, he really isn't."

"How can you tell, Rebecca? How do you know he hasn't done something horrible? There are cases of people going crazy and doing something horrific and then snapping back into a normal mode without any recollection or without any remorse for what they had done. How do you know he isn't one of those people."

"Because then I am pretty sure they would not have allowed him to attend a school where he is around hundreds of students every day." it came out snippy, but he fell silent since he could tell that she had a point. "And because I can just tell, Philip."

He sighed, looking away and rubbing his neck, weariness in his gaze when he looked at her again. Then he spoke to her in resignation.

"Fine, got hop into one of the hospital beds in the room next door. I don't want you walking home by yourself at this hour, and the room is empty and will remain so at least until morning."  
With a smile she gave him a hug and then moved out of the lab to do as he instructed. As she settled down into the hospital bed that seemed oh so comfortable at the moment, she looked out the single window into the dark night. Propping her chin on her hands that were resting on the pillow she thought of Kalin. Would he remember what had occurred in her apartment? Would he remember the spark when they had touched?

Shaking her head and realizing she was being a fool she set in to sleep, knowing Philip would end up in one of the beds next to her.

The thought made her smile.


	7. Pain Killer

**Happy New Years to all! I hope you guys had a great new years and by that I mean that most of you don't remember it (wink wink). The inspiration for these chapters? The Older I Get by Skillet. AWSOME!**

**Rebecca's POV**

I had the mother of all friggin headaches. Listening to Philip drone on and on about the medical procedures he was trying on my blood and the sounds of the machines had begun to feel like a hole being drilled in my brain. He had insisted I stay with him when I had awoken, he needed fresh blood for a few more tests. Then he had insisted I stay to keep him company and we could catch up, then we had to have lunch together.

Eventually, I had to draw a line.

"Where are you going?" he questioned, with clear suspicion on his face and coloring his tone. I sighed, knowing it was coming, wishing he would just let me go.

"I have a gig at five." I said bluntly, throwing my light jacket on over my clothes. "I would also like to take a shower and have a change of clothes. I love spending time with you but I do not want to spend more time in this hospital."

"But you haven't even been to the children's ward yet." he was grasping at straws, and it made me raise my eyebrows at him. Why the desperate attempt to keep me away from Kalin? A person he didn't even know? It didn't matter anyways, I really did have a gig, and this was one of my best paying employers.

"I will just have to visit another time, Phil. Mrs. Clancy booked me about a month ago and it would unfair to cancel on her just because you want me to stick around a little longer. Plus, I need the money if I am going to continue to live by myself without my parents support."

"I told you you don't have to pay for the tests." he said with an irritated crinkle of his nose, going back to the microscope.

"That would defeat the purpose of living on my own without anyones help, wouldn't you say?" I put my hand on his arm, waiting till he met my eyes to give a small smile. "I can afford the medical bills, and the last thing I need is your boss finding out you are paying for my stuff and you getting sacked. Then what would I do?"

"I would have to continue my work in an underground black market lab." the bad thing? There was not a single ounce of teasing on his face. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and looking down, trying not to snap.

"What is your problem, Phil? I have to work, just like you do, I enjoy working from time to time, and she is one of my best payers."

"Don't tell me she is the one with that snotty bastard of a son?"

"I would not use those words, but yes, she is the one you are thinking of."

"The boy is a sexist pig, and if I could I would give him a piece of my mind."

"You would give everyone a piece of your mind," I said with a smile, kissing his cheek. "Love you, try and go home today, otherwise I will refuse to come in the next time you call."

"That is not funny Rebecca! That has to do with your health!" but I was already halfway out the door when I called back. "So does yours!"

But as I stepped into the just opening elevator, a woman passed me. I saw hundreds of people every day, but something made me stop midstep and glance back at her, just to find that she was doing the same with me.

And her eyes, they were so familiar, so beautiful so . . . old.

Before I could even think to turn back and ask her who she was the elevator door slid shut.

From there, the headache only seemed to get worse.

I managed to walk back to the school, the weather seeming like it did not want to stay in the warm range of spring and instead break into the full blistering heat of summer. I was out of breath and light headed by time I reach my dorm room, but that could have also been caused by the anemia, but hey, who was pointing fingers?

Then? I noticed a large footprint on my door, the wood of the frame slightly splintered. I was dreading opening the door, but I did.

Boooooy did I wish I could kill myself at the moment!

My entire room was trashed. My bed has been flipped, my small bookcase knocked over , my desk in disarray, papers everywhere. For a single moment I couldn't breath, and my body would not move no matter how much my thoughts were screaming at it too. And then, my body finally kicked into action.

I sprung forward, stepping on and over my belongings like they were nothing in the single minded drive I had to get to what I wanted. I reached the area of my bookcase and began digging, throwing things out of the way in a feral desperation. I gasped when my fingers hit class, just enough to sting but not to break through, but I knew I had reached what I was looking for.

The broken frame I pulled from the wreckage had managed to protect the picture of man. His hair was the color of deep chestnut, his eyes following suite. His face was soft, his chin strong, but his eyes gentle. He was tall, holding a sixteen year old me under his arm and easily towering above me. His body was strong, well defined even under the plain white shirt he wore and tatty worn blue jeans. Behind us showed the Blue Ride Mountains, a trip he had taken me on for my birthday, the summer sun glaring at the camera.

I had not laughed that much since that day.

Tenderly, I reached back and touched my left shoulder, saying with a soft smile, "I got ya, Chewy."

But a small noise startled me, and I jumped up, trying to turn around, only to trip on something and find myself falling to the floor in such a swift motion it took me a moment to realize I was even falling. Until I hit something so solid it knocked the breath clear out of me. I coughed, my lungs protesting at the rough treatment, and my hand meeting a rough material as I reached up to push myself back up and steady myself.

"Oh shit!" I yelped when I looked up to find myself face to face with Kalin. I stepped back only to trip again and this time Kalin couldn't save me from falling to the cluttered floor. "What the fuck!" I swore, managing to stumble towards the door, frame still in hand. My heart was pounding, my adrenalin running, and my temper was flaring due to the fact my headache had just burst into a full out migraine. I didn't know if Kalin had destroyed my room, hell, for all I know someone could have broke in and stolen stuff, even though nothing valuable was kept in my room anyways. But this has just set me from in pain to me in pain and pissed off. If Kalin did not stay away from at this point I was likely to deck him in the face regardless of the muzzle.

"Piss off Kalin!" I hissed, when he touched against me once we were outside of my room. I could hear him trying to speak, but the words were garbled, incoherent, but desperate. It was the raw desperation that caught me, and when I paused to look back at him his eyes were wide, afraid, desperate. I sighed, sagging against the wall, suddenly so tired, I just wanted the world to dissapear. But Kalin continued to try to speak to me, but I could not make anything out.

Finally, I held up a hand, and he finally fell into silence. I sat there on the floor for a moment, with him hovering over me, the air between us tense and confused. He wanted me to understand and I just wanted to be left alone.

"Are you okay?" I finally asked, looking up at him again, only for him to give me a somewhat confused nod in response. I sighed, sucking in a heavy breath and pushing myself to my feet. Everything still sucked, the world could still go to hell, and I still wanted to shoot myself in the head. But none of that was Kalin's fault, and maybe his presence could even be beneficial to me.

"In." I ordered in a low breath, noting that my outburst was starting to draw my classmates from their rooms. I did not want a scene, and I did not want anyone else seeing my room.

Kalin obeyed without any hesitation, and it wasn't until I closed the door that I noted the note that was on the inside of my door.

"Be back tomorrow, good luck?" I read out loud, giving Kalin a look that spoke volumes. He even looked guilty, as if it were his fault. I laughed, actually laughed, and shook my head, throwing the paper to the floor and heading for the bathroom, which was thankfully still untouched. I snagged the pain pills from the medicine cabinet and shook two into my hand before heading back towards the kitchen. Kalin had taken the liberty of kicking the table right side up with his foot and all of the chairs, giving me another thing to chuckle about. He gave me a questioning look with the pills, but I just tapped my head as I brushed past him.

Now, I know pain pills and alcohol do not mix well, but I really didn't care at this point. I always kept at least six to twelve wine coolers in the bottom drawers of my fridge for when the world was fucking me over. And what better time than today?

"Have you ever had on of these?" I questioned Kalin, who was already sitting silently at the table like a good little boy. He shook his head, so I put the wine cooler down on the table and began on the buckles on his straight jacket. He tensed, but didn't fight me, and I could sense his shock and slight unease.

"I know you probably don't remember, but the last time you were here you gave me the option to remove your straight jacket, just not your muzzle, so I guess we will just have to work up to that or something." when it fell loose, he eventually shrugged it off, showing tanned arms and those long strong fingers. I bit my lip at his sculpted chest and body, even though this wasn't my first time seeing it. Not like I could really enjoy it last time though, with him bleeding everywhere and all.

"Here, try some, though I doubt you will like it enough to get drunk with me." I make quick work of the wine cooler and offered it out to him. He moved for it without a moment's hesitation, as if he didn't want to disappoint me. And I had a brief thought that maybe I should have warned him this was not exactly wonderful tasting when he had only taken a mouthful and he gagged. He scrambled up, desperately trying to figure out what he should do, his eyes panic stricken. Its not like I was much help, I was on the floor from how hard I was laughing.

"Si-sink!" I finally managed to gasp out, and he basically ran for the sink in his desperation. I still couldn't stop laughing though, even though my stomach was hurting, I was light headed from lack of air, and there were tears in my eyes. When I could finally calm down and breath Kalin was at my side, offering a hand to help me up. I accepted it, but denied when he then offered me the pain pills I had taken out. My headache was lessening, maybe I just needed someone like him to help me relax a little.

"Have you ever played gameboy?" I asked curiously, and when he gave me a confused frown I grinned and waded back through the disaster to try and find it. Kalin followed, and I could read his intention from the look in his eyes, so I wagged my finger at him with a laugh. "Go sit down, big boy. If you don't even know what a gameboy looks like, then how are you supposed to find it? Go, sit." I shooed him away, but he refused to move, so I had to continue on, wine cooler in hand, on my conquest. I found it quickly though, for it was in the drawer in my nightstand that had thankfully not overturned. I quickly sat him down at the table after popping in Mario Race something or other. And after seconds of handing it to him, he began to adapt, learning so quickly I could not even get the words out of my mouth on what he was supposed to do.

So I backed off, drinking at least three of four more wine coolers while I watched him play, me laughing more and more as the wine coolers set in as he would either crash or die. He eventually even began to get into the game, sighing and shaking his head in a mocking way at himself when he would crash or make a mistake. It was nice, I couldn't remember the last time I had done this with someone.

Suddenly, I grinned up at him.

"Hey Kalin? How is your dancing skills?"


	8. Dancing Through Disaster

**The song they dance too in this chapter is Eat You Up by BOA, I can't stop dancing to this song! And in honor of the new year and all that a whole chapter in Kalin's POV! Love you guys!**

**Kalin's POV**

Dancing? She had to be joking right? But when she waiting until midnight then took me to the school dance studio it was clear that she wasn't joking. The sound proof walls would keep anyone from hearing the loud music, and she promised me no one would come along and see us in the middle of dancing.

Truth be told, I knew nothing of dancing. I only knew how to do formal dancing, and even that was a little fuzzy with my mental state. And it didn't help that the longer I was in the presence of my fated one, the more our hunger for each other seemed to just grow. A mere hour before she had gasped just from out hands brushing accidentally, as if she felt the sexual hunger flow from me to her. She was mine, there was no question in the way her body responded to mine. So no, I didn't know a thing about the dance she knew, but if I got a chance to touch her I would do whatever she asked me to do.

Not to mention my Rebecca was drunk and I was worried if I was not close she would fall over and hurt herself.

She turned on the music, the beat pounding and flowing through every cell in my body, and in hers. I felt the automatic response in her body to her, felt the muscles respond, and mine responded to hers even though we had not bonded yet. Without preamble she broke out into hip hop dancing, and took my very breath away. Drunk or not my fated one was magnificent. Every inch, curve, and well defined muscle in her body was so defined and used to such perfection it was breathtaking. Her body moved and swayed, and I felt my sexual hunger rising, making it slightly harder to breath. It was so unfamiliar to me, I had never had a sexual appetite, just like I had never craved someones blood like I did hers. Would it be sweet or spicy? My fangs sharpened in anticipation.

But then I caught sight of her face, and all that no longer mattered.

She had the biggest smile on her face and she moved this way and that, the energy obviously something natural and wonderful to her. To find such joy in something so simple, it was beautiful to behold.

What had fate given me? I wanted to go to my knees and ask if I was even worthy of such a female that needed nothing complicated to make her happy.

"Kalin!" she cried out, laughing as she reached for my hands. I allowed her to pull me to where she had been dancing, feeling the heat radiating off her skin and taking her lush body through the blue wife beater she was wearing that clung to her lush breasts and curvy waist, and gray sweats that were not only thin but clung so tight I could see every muscle she tightened to use.

Not to mention that generous ass! Oh god! Sweat clung to every inch of her skin and she was even panting slightly. But I tried to stay on track, watching intently as she did one move then another, then repeating them with me to make sure I got them. At first it was hard to keep my eyes off her gaping breast and rosy lips that begged for a kiss as they parted around her panting breaths and her laughter, but I actually began to get involved. It was actually kind of fun, to move my body this way and that, actually able to use the flow of the music the way my body wanted me too.

I got so caught up I even began laughing when she would show me a move then make a face, as if she couldn't believe she had done that. Her face lit up when she heard me laugh, as muffled it as it was, and it make my heart begin to beat fast. But just when I thought the moment would become serious, the song changed, and she started off again with the simple joy of a child.

But her energy far outmatched my own. I had not fed in . . . oh god I did not even know, since the last time I had been sane, which was many years ago. I had been the captive of the people who had me now since the day I had lost my sanity.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew this was important, that this had something to do with Rebecca, but I could not bring myself to focus on it. As the curse of my kind I could only be sane when in her presence until we fully bonded, both body and soul, preferably at the same time, and I could not bring myself to waste this precious time I had now that I could think clearly. Every move she made, every sound that came out of her, every time her heart would speed up and then slow time, and that smile that lit up those wonderful eyes, all of it was etched into my brain.

I wanted to tell her that, get down on my knees and take her hands and explain everything. Tell her she was my salvation, I needed her to live, and in return I could give her the best life she could ever wish for.

But what of love? I wanted to desperately to love this woman, and looking at this pure joy and kindness she seemed to emanate from her core, I think I was close. But of course it would not work that way for her.

I touch my muzzle, actually thinking of taking it off, letting her see my face, watch her reaction as she finally saw me. Would she stare in wonder? Or would she sense the predatory nature in me and cower away? I stared at her with longing. Could I make her love me? Could I take off this muzzle and not screw it up? Not give into the basic instinct to take her neck in my mouth like a cat to pin her in place so I could dominate her?

Then I had a thought so shocking I sat back and blinked.

Was she innocent?

A feral anger rose in me at the thought of another male touching her, taking her in that way, even though I knew she would have received no sexual pleasure from the act. From the moment she was born she was destined to be mine, it was all a matter on if I found her or not. Her sexual appetite and please would have been completely locked away, only able to be experienced if it were me, no other male. I would have to be satisfied with that, she was human, they were not like our kind with only one destined partner, it would have been natural for her to attempt it, even though it was pointless.

But she could not have known this. Did she think that something was wrong with her? It only increased the urge to remove the muzzle and show her what I could give her that no other male could. But if I opened up the relationship with sexual ecstasy, could she ever come to love me?

Well goddam, why was this complicated?

She made the decision for me, though, by smiling brightly at me and grabbing for me. A jolt went through me, so much better than anything I had ever felt before. To my surprise though, she did not let go, instead smiling drunkenly up at me before speaking.

"Lets do some partner dances, Kalin! You pick it up so well and I have never danced with anyone before." I could be her first at something? My mind greedily sucked in the idea and I nodded, letting her move to the music first. I waited, watched, picked up the rhythm, and then began to move with her.

She laughed loudly, obviously joyous that I was able to keep up and she was having fun. It made me smile, and gave me just that much more courage. I reached out for her, surprising her by spinning her, obviously not a hip hop move, and one she wasn't expecting. But her bare feet were quick, and she picked up my rhythm just as I had hers.

We continued on like this for a song longer, but then, without either of us realizing it, the air began to get more tense, more . . . sexual.

She had moved up against me, her body moving with mine like a snake, her bare skin rubbing on mine as I had a firm grip on her hips. It was almost inevitable, for us to magnetize towards each other when we were this close. I should have stayed away, but the simple pleasure of her body on mine was enough to make me close my eyes. I wanted more, I wanted so much more, I wanted all of her now, with no resistance, no problems, and no pesky thoughts about the future.

At the same time we both stopped, the music dying down to a few last lingering notes, leaving both of our bodies humming from the left over energy and the sound of our panting breaths to be heard in the empty and echoing room.

She twisted so that we were face to face, her eyes conveying what she seemed to be unable to say aloud, or maybe that was just my wishful thinking.

But when she reached up to touch my muzzle, I knew I was not imagining things. This was a kissing moment, and she wanted me to kiss her. Oh god, did I want to kiss her. For a moment I smelled her arousal, and it fueled my own, drowned out my doubts, my worries.

But when her hands slid back to undo the buckles, and click of reality slid into place. Don't ask me where it came from, or how it even manged to make it through. I reached up and grabbed her hands, stopping her, and shaking my head.

"Kalin," she whimpered rubbing her forehead against my chest, a very catlike motion. I turned my head away, taking in a deep breath of air to clear my head, and was glad I had. I would have regretted everything I had done, especially since the alcohol was fueling her arousal and her body knew I could give her what it wanted, even if her mind didn't. Did this mean her mind liked me enough to come to me to ease her need? Or did it mean that she was so drunk she was at the lead of her body only?

It killed me, to know she was aching and needing and being unable to give her relief. I slid a hand up her body to cup under her chin, bringing her face up just enough to touch her forehead to mine. She accepted it, eager for the contact as much as I was. But the moment our eyes met her widened with realization and she pulled back slightly, her body swaying. I was worried, not only was she exhausted, she was sexually aroused and drunk, all were strains on her body. But what she said instantly snapped my attention.

"Your eyes," she said softly, then gave a small laugh. "She had your eyes, how could I not have realized that."

My eyes? Could it be? No, it couldn't.

It didn't matter, I never got a chance to ask Rebecca. She immediately collapsed, and I caught her hot body in my arms. She murmured something or other in her sleep, and I shook my head at the antics of this woman. She did not know her own limits.

What she had said plagued me, but unless I gained the courage to take the muzzle off I would never get a chance to ask her.

Or would I?

**Okay just a note, it was EFFING hard write a scene of arousal from a males point of view but a pleasant experience hahaha. I had to keep asking my fiance if that sounded right. Let me know! THANK YOU!**


	9. Faking Madness

**Thank you to all those are faithful readers of not only 2010 but moved on to 2011 as well! And thank you to all those who have joined us. I love getting your comments, bunches of thanks and I hope your holidays were wonderful!**

**Rebecca's POV**

The first thing I became aware of when I woke up was my face mashed into the pillow, my lungs basically burning for oxygen. I did that sometimes, grabbed the pillow with all my might and turned my face into it, I guess I was looking for companion ship.

Then, sanity slowly began coming back, and my whole body stiffened underneath my comforter.

Hadn't my bed been flipped?

And where was Kalin? Oh crap, what has happened last night?

Slowly, I peeked out from the side of the pillow, feeling the cool air of my room hit my heated face, only to find my room spotless and put back together. Frowning, I sat up, taking a quick sweep. Some things were not where they were meant to be, others were missing all together, broken, I was guessing. But how had this happened? It was then I noticed Kalin asleep, on the floor at the side of my bed, propped up against the wall, arms over his chest, chin to chest.

What has **happened **last night?

I went to move then froze, groaning as my head began to pound and swim. I put my hand to it, closing my eyes, and barley heard Kalin shift. He made a small noise, and I cracked open an eye to look at him, worry in his eyes as he kneeled beside my bed. And the whole night came and hit me in my in the face.

A blush flushed across my face and I looked away from him. But he was worried, and he gently touched my face with a cool finger, so familiar, only bringing back what has almost happened. I had almost been intimate with this sinfully sexy male that I barley knew and at the same time felt more at ease with than I did even Crystal. And even with a hangover that made me want to cut my own head off and a body that feel disqusting, I still wanted him with the same fierce ache I wanted him to last night. Seeing such want in his eyes, such tenderness and joy, it was something I wanted, needed, craved to be able to call my own. And yet when I had tried to make a move, was determined to actually go through with what I wanted, he stopped me. Just like that, just grabbed my hands and stopped me, even though my body was ranging out of control and was his to have. And then he just held me.

I remembered that now. Just sitting in one of the auditorium chair, in his lap, tight against his chest, listening to the slow pounding of his head and half asleep. The very first time I had ever been held by someone while sleeping.

"Painkillers," I muttered, and he got up, understanding what I needed, but we both froze when I heard my phone buzzing. I frowned, not remembering where it had gone soon after I had gotten back. I glanced at the clock, seeing it was only seven in the morning, and wondering who it could be. Then the real challenge began, when I got up and actually began trying to find it.

I found it shoved under the cushion on my kitchen chairs. I picked it up and looked at Kalin, who met my gaze with a kind of cool clarity, not at all like the rolling emotions I was feeling.

"Kalin," I said in a level voice, surprising myself, but I continued. "Did you hide my phone?" there was a heart beat or so of silence between us, and then he gave a hard nod, and something inside my deflated, like I had almost been betrayed. But more than anything I was shocked and confused.

"Why? Why would you hide my phone?" I didn't understand why possible reasoning could be behind this. I waited, watching him, as if I expected him to suddenly talk and explain himself. He reached up and touched his muzzle, and frustration suddenly clouded his eyes, as well as slight anger that he could not get his point through. Whatever reason he had for keeping that damn thing it, it must have been a very good one. Then, with a strong purpose, he stepped forward and tapped my forehead. The motion surprised me, causing me to flinch, to which he immediantly retreated as if he did not want to scare me or crowd me with his presence.

But I understood. And I just had to laugh out loud.

"I am sorry," I said softly when he gave me a surprised look. "Its just you remind me of someone who is always trying to take care of me, and he isn't even my family." I gave a brighter smile, shaking my head. "I think you would like him, you two seem to have the same air and goals in mind." but my brief enjoyment of this analogy ended when I looked down at my phone and saw who had been calling.

"FUCK!" I screamed, and ran to the bathroom, already clicking the redial button as I slammed the bathroom door shut and turned around desperately to try and find something wearable after the record shower I was about to have. Nothing, oh well, these clothes would have to do.

"Rebecca," the voice on the other end of the line sounded haughty and disappointed, and I bit my lip, thinking I had really fucked up this time. How could I have started drinking and forgotten about my gig? She had probably called a million times and I would not have heard it from how hard I was laughing with Kalin before I took him dancing. Being drunk had advantages.

"Mrs. Clancy, I swear to god I am so sorry I did not bail on you!"

"Then what is your excuse, Rebecca? I called you repeatedly and I made sure that you knew well in advance what day and time that I wanted you. I always make sure to pay you handsomely for your skills and your time."

"I had a medical emergency!" I burst out. I hadn't meant to lie, hell, half the time I could not lie for shit. But something had just made it come out. Oh god, was this thing with Kalin going to make me do crazy things?

Great, now I was blaming things on him that sounded crazy.

"Oh, I am sorry darlin' you should just have called to inform me." yeah, she knew about the whole blood thing, since I had collapsed one time at one of her parties she had invited me too.

"I am so sorry, but I didn't come too in time to tell someone to call you in time. I was just handed my phone and saw how many times you called. I am so so sorry Mrs. Clancy." god was I laying in on thick.

"Oh, it is fine honey, I will call sometime later to book you for some other time. I hope you start feeling better."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Clancy, and the next time you book me, it will be on me okay? It is a policy of mine."

"Oh, okay honey, you rest well now."

"I will, thank you so much, have a wonderful day."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up with a sigh, leaning heavily on the door. God things were going to be getting complicated.

I was just starting to wonder if I should feel guilty for what I almost did to Kalin when I stripped to hop into the shower.

**Kalin's POV**

God damn that women! She had just took off into the bathroom and was now in the shower.

Naked.

And she was expecting me to just sit here knowing she was? God I could not keep the images out of my mind, the water and soap running over her body. I paced the room that I had cleaned while she had been sleeping off the alcohol. I hadn't wanted to let her go, she was so warm and soft in my arms. The only women I had ever held had been my mother and my sister, and it had been so awefully long since then.

But this was a completely different feeling. I wanted to protect her, yes, but I had also wanted to ravage her, to claim her, to make her mine. This woman was mine and I couldn't have her!

Would she accept me if I went into the shower with her? If I removed this muzzle and made a move on her like she had made a move on me this morning? I wanted to try, I almost did, I got as far as putting my hand on the door knob before I finally made myself move away. Having her out of my sight was making me slightly agitated, but I could deal with it, as long as it wasn't the madness, anything but the madness, I was getting addicted to the sanity in her presence. But I was still dangerous to her while she was on the borderline for how she felt about me. I knew what I felt for her and what I was going to feel for her in the future, since she was my salvation. But maybe I was just another male to her, and it was obvious that while he body understood and was willing to me, she was still unsure.

I respected her for that, for wanting to know me before she allowed me to know her body. But goddamn some part of me wished I had not stopped her last night.

I could have ended this aching loneliness.

But then I caught sight of the note left by my little prison guards, and I stiffened. If they found out she was mine, there was nothing I could do to protect her. And if we joined, the madness would flee, and they would be able to tell. They would hurt her in ways I did not even want to think about, I did not want anyone to hurt her. This madness was the one thing protecting not only her but our time together, our chance to know each other.

After all, there was no way to fake madness.

Rebecca knocked on Crystal's door, waiting a minuet or two before she began knocking again. She was agitated, and after forcibly dropping Kalin back with his watchers, she had decided that she would wake up Crystal and they could do some yoga together.

But she could never tell Crystal the reason she was agitated. She couldn't tell her about this morning, about her throbbing hang over, and about the fact that the whole time she was in the shower all she could think about was what she would do if he came in. She hadn't locked the door, she would like she think it had been by mistake, but she was not so sure. She did crazy things around Kalin, he made her hot blooded and feminine. It was almost addicting in a way.

Just when she was about to knock again Crystal answered the door, looking ruffled and tired.

"Yeah?" she asked in a grumpy voice that made Rebecca smile.

"Yoga," she answered, holding up the mat as if it were evidence.

"You want me to do yoga at seven thirty in the morning?" Crystal asked in disbelief. Then she eyes Rebecca wearily. "What is going on, it is always hell on earth dragging you out of bed before nine, and even then it is still hard as hell to do."

"I just want to do yoga, is that such a big deal?" Rebecca snapped, then kicked herself for it when Crystal raised her eye brows to that. "Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her bare feet. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She didn't even know what she was going to do the next time Kalin came over. The two of them seemed to be on the verge of just breaking down and indulging in each other.

Damn, even that thought seemed sexy and forbidden.

"Is this about Ben?" Crystal asked with a sigh.

Everything inside Rebecca froze.

"Ben?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, you know, your boyfriend. Sheesh, Rebecca, sometimes I wonder how many boyfriends you actually have when you pull a face like that." Then, after a second or two, Crystal's eyes lit up with understanding. "Oh my god, you cheated on Ben, didn't you?"

"NO!" she gasped, and hit her head on the door frame. Oh god, Ben, how the hell had she forgotten about Ben. I mean sure, she rarely saw him, and sure, he wasn't much of a boyfriend, but he was a sweet and caring enough guy. So how the hell could she have forgotten about him?

"Oh god, this is just madness." Rebecca murmured, and instantly regretted it, knowing automatically what Crystal was going to say.

"Madness?" Crystal questioned with a roll of her eyes. She grabbed Rebecca's arm and pulled her into the room, finishing with, "This is Sparta darling."


	10. The Start Of Something

**Hey people :( sorry for not updating recently. But I have noticed that quite a few people read this story, yet hardly anyone reviews. Those of you who do, even if it is just to say Update Soon! Or even to say you are now addicted, thank you. Every review helps me continue and makes me want to make awesome chapters for you guys. So for all you who review and even those who read but don't review, I say it is time things pick up a bit don't you? I hope you like it, and if you don't, please leave me a note saying so. I always want feed back, negative or positive, and if you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment about it, send me a private message. EVERYTHING HELPS! Oh, and inspiration today? Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. Just in case, ya know, someone cares lol.**

**Rebecca's POV**

Me and Crystal were in our Yoga group, which we sometimes went to on Saturday or Sunday, but most times we couldn't because I usually had a gig. But surprisingly I didn't this weekend, so I decided to cram as much yoga as I could into this weekend, because LORD knew I needed it with the last month I had just had.

Classes had started back up normally once I was finally off doctors prohibition. I had to frigging draw like crazy to catch up with my artwork, but surprisingly, Kalin had been a big help with that. It turned out he could draw better than I could, and I found I felt inspired by the pictures he drew. All of them were scenery, but there of places I had never seen nor been too. Forest's splattered with the colors of fall or fresh spring; beaches with the shadows of life moving through the water. Every one made me want to draw as well, but nothing I came out with came out nearly as good or as inspiring as his.

Then he drew one that was just so beautiful I just could not let it go. For this one he had begged me for pastels and charcoal, a combination I never wanted to use. And he hadn't exactly begged me, since I had no luck still convincing him to take off the muzzle. But he had drawn a picture of the night, in white and black, with the moon and stars, and the forest shrouded in darkness. I don't know how to explain it to you, but it seemed to sing to me the same haunting melody I had just played the night before. My eyes had teared up, my hands had itched to play, and then he had handed it to me and I swear to god I would have kissed him right then and there if I could had.

But that night in the class was our last sexual encounter. Now, every time we met I tired to keep Ben first and foremost in my mind. But it was hard, oh god, was it hard. We had gotten to the part where we would sometimes spend whole days together on the weekends, or when his keepers would dump him at my place for the night. They seemed to be hoping for something, and they seemed more and more frustrated when I would return him to them. I don't know what they were hoping for, but their increasing tempers were a clear sign of it. Not to mention the increasing time spans they were leaving me with him.

Not to mention every single time his body would brush mine heat would flush me. It was a wake up call, though. Why him and no other male? Why could I not feel this heat with Ben? Or the men I had been with before? Why a man I could never have? Why did I have to suffer through painful and empty sex to try and keep my relationships together that failed anyway? I tried not to blame it on Kalin, after all, it wasn't his fault right? He couldn't know the effect he had on me was limited to only him, right? I mean, he seemed more sane with, but maybe it was because he could just relax in my presence.

Needless to say the tension between the two of us just kept building, and I had no outlet, and nor did he.

"Have you done any new drawings lately?" Crystal broke into my thought process. Our instructor was taking a lunch break, as were we. Crystal was eating her packed lunch of fruits and a ham sandwich, and I was eating, uh, well, nothing. Crystal had made a remark on that, but I had just responded I had had a large breakfast. Which I had, with Kalin.

It was funny watching him figuring out the whole eating thing with the muzzle. But at least he had a hearty appetite.

"Um, yeah, a few." I murmured absent mindedly, wondering how it was I laughed more with Kalin than anymore else, and he couldn't even speak.

"Can I see them?" she asked around a mouthful of her sandwich. I reached for my bag and pulled out my hardcover portfolio. I had wanted to stop by my art teachers room to get his opinion, but it wouldn't hurt showing her first.

"Who is she?" she asked, studying the first picture in the group. They were all of the chick I had seen in the hospital, with variations and whatnot. But one thing remained the same; I always made her vibrant eyes stand out.

"To be honest, I don't know."

"You don't know who she is, but you keep drawing her. Sorry if I say it is a bit creepy."

"I saw her in the hospital when I was leaving last month. I can't explain it, but there is just something about her that makes it impossible for me to get her out of my head."

"Like," my friend paused to find the word. "Attraction? If this your way of your brain telling you you are into chicks?"

I laughed with a snort, snatching the pictures away from her with a shake of my head.

"No, nothing like that. It just feels like I know her, I guess. Or like I should know her, or maybe it is that she knows me. The way she looked at me, it was like me and he had history together, like she recognized me. I don't know what would have happened if the elevator doors hadn't closed, I wish I did. The mystery of her is eating at me, because it feels not right not knowing and just wondering." I took in a breath, and glanced sideways at Crystal. She was wearing tight stretchy pink sweat pants and a pink shirt that hung slightly loose. Her feet were bare, of course, and her hair pulled into a ponytail that somehow made he look even more flawless. I felt plastic standing next to this chick sometimes.

"No, sorry," she said, immediately reading my look, my question. "I have never had a feeling like that. And I have met quite a few people with my whole dancing career going on."

"Okay, maybe I am just a weird oddball."

"Well, we already knew that." she said with a snort, and my head snapped to her, my posture becoming a little more tense, a little more defensive.

My eyes sharpened on her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well come on, Rebecca." she said with a laugh, obviously not seeing the little signs in my body language. "You should have graduated already, and yet you choose to stay here and take more classes. Not to mention you have an awesome boyfriend who is sweet and considerate and you seem to be more attracted to a man who has a muzzle on his face." then a look of understanding dawned. "You like the mystery, huh?"

"No, Crystal, just, UGH!" I tightened my fist, so angry at the fact that I could not even confide in my one and only friend. And she always jumped to conclusions.

"Wow, calm down, I think you are overreacting." and no, she didn't say this is a calm and soothing voice. She said it in a hard, don't even try voice.

"Overreacting? You know what Crystal, I wouldn't have too if you even understood like a fraction of what actually went on in my life, but from what I understand now, you don't. And yet you still continue to run your mouth. I am not your next piece of gossip, and I am not a freaking random person of the street! I thought I was your best friend, but if you cant even recall how many times I have come to your crying because Ben never wants to see me, or how he forgets my birthday, or how he never comes to any date he invites me on or vice versa, leaving me there, then I think you need to go get your head out of your ass and go find a new friend."

Okay, honestly, I hadn't meant to say so much, or say it so rudely. But I was pissed, pushed over the limit, and I was tired of it. Me and Crystal had been friends for four years now, and in those four years I had gone though seven boy friends, only three of which I slept with. Every one of them did not work out. Ben was my seventh, and while the other guys wanted their hands all over me, Ben could not seem to get far enough away from me. Yet every time I seemed to approach the subject of breaking up he would freak out and make it up to me with tons of gifts and crap like that. I had eventually gotten to the point where I just stopped, kept my mouth shut, and let it happen.

Hence why I had forgotten I had a boy friend.

"And let me tell you something. The man with a muzzle has been there for me more in one month than my own boyfriend has in six."

And just when her face turned pale and anger flared her eyes and her mouth opened up to retort, I was saved.

Well, somewhat.

"There you are!" the voice surprised me, and I suddenly looked up to find myself with one of Kalin's body guards hovering over me. I blinked, what he had said not registering with me for a moment, but it scared of Crystal, who cringed away like he had yelled at he. Yeah, he just had that kind of air about him.

"What?" I asked blankly, only for him to snag me by the arm and drag me away. I barly managed to catch my book bag or portfolio, but once I knew I had everything and we were half way to my room I glared up at him and snatched my arm back.

"What the hell is your problem? You don't just barge into my class and drag me out. Who the hell do you think you are?"

"You are going to watch Kalin, for me and my associate have somewhere to be." he growled, and the fact that he was actually indulging me and not just dragging me along spoke volumes of how important what they had to do was.

I was ecstatic that Kalin would once again be spending the night, but I put on a put out and pissed off face.

"I just had him this morning!" I yelled, trying to bolt.

It work.

"To bad," he sneered with a laugh, grabbing my arm again and dragging me along even with my thrashing about. Hell, he even began happily whistling to himself. Okay, well, at least they still believed I hated watching him.

When we reached my door he sort of threw me up against it, not too hard, just enough to jar me before stalking off. I blinked after him, guessing that meant that Kalin was already in my room. It just made me more suspicious though. Where were they going? How did he know I was going to be in my yoga class? And why no snide remarks or destruction?

I shook my head and opened up my door, to find Kalin sitting at the kitchen table as usual. I immediately went over and began undoing the straight jacket, then walked into the kitchen to look for something to eat. It wasn't until I pulled a fruit cup from the fridge and turned around that I realized Kalin was right behind me, also looking into the fridge.

Our bodies came flush up against each other, and heat flushed my body, making me give a small gasp. Maybe he felt it too, or maybe my reaction fueled him, but heat flared his eyes as well.

"S-sorry," I said desperately, backing up so quickly I hit the fridge, making it rock. It scared me, and also distracted me, so I barley managed to avoid the hand Kalin reached out to steady me. Worry had replaced the heat in his eyes, but my body was still on fire and it was making me jittery.

"Thank you," I muttered before quickly retreating, pausing when I heard him growl. I glanced back at him, to find him looking right at my ass, and realized I was so screwed. I was wearing thin gray sweat pants and a white halter that hugged my chest and even showed off some of my midriff. Before his eyes could come up to meet mine and I could see the raw hunger in there, I quickly sat down in the chair.

"Frick," I muttered, when I looked down at the juice cup and realized that I had forgetten a spoon in my rush to get away from him. I didn't know how much longer we were going to be able to go one like this. I had never had something like this happen, I did not even know where to begin. I had never wanted to kiss someone, to touch someone, to feel someone against me with such intensity. I wanted it, hell no, at this point I _needed _it, or I think I was just going to go up in flames. But I was still with Ben, and that means that I still had a still obligation. Being in the same room with Kalin right now was not a good idea.

I blinked when a spoon suddenly appearing in my vision, and when I grabbed at it our hands touch.

"Uh, thank you," I murmured, keeping my head down, and I heard him murmur his welcome, at least, I think that is what he murmured, and sat down across from me.  
I swallowed heavily, my hands shaking uncontrollably when I tried to peel of the foil on the top of my snack. So much so, Kalin actually had to calmly take it from me and do it for me before placing it back in front of me. I gave him a grateful smile, not only for the help, but also for noticing my aversion to our sexual tension. I think he and I both knew if he made a move I would be lost, yet he was keeping his distance. No other man I knew could do that, or would do that for me.

And it was for me, I could see in his eyes it was for me.

I looked down at my food again, pondering my heart. When had my feelings for this silent man changed? When had they gone from pity and understanding to wanting to be with him and actually liking him? To my body wanting him with an intensity I had never know, and judging from him being all tied up, I don't think he had either.

Then a thought made me pause, and I began coughing at a piece of fruit went down the wrong pipe at a thought.

Was Kalin a virgin?

Oh shit.

I didn't even know how long he had been like this, for all I know he could still be. Hell! I didn't even know how old he was.

I held up a hand when Kalin worriedly got up to assist me in clearing my windpipe, not wanting him to get any closer and test my leashed control that was being made worse with my turbulent emotions. He did sit back down, but he continued to watch me with worried and wary eyes. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, not liking the intense and undivided attention.

"So, uh, where are they going?" I asked with a slight shake in my voice, trying to get his gaze off of me. I say him shrug, and gave a small laugh. "Of course, silly me, I didn't think they would tell you or anything I just thought maybe you had overheard something. Do you know how long they will be gone?" another shrug. "Oh, so we may end up, ah, staying together for awhile." oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

"Hey, uh, why don't you do some more drawings, unless you would like to play the gameboy?" he said nothing. Just continued to sit there and look at me, but this time with a more calculating look in his eyes. I got up, managing not to stumble, and grabbed my bag. I jumped when he came up behind me, shying away, but that meant I couldn't stop him from grabbing my portfolio.

"Uh." yeah, that is what came out of my mouth. It wasn't the actually word, it was more like a squeaky gasp. But his reaction was unexpected, and I titled my head to look at him.

His body went completley ridged when he looked at my picture of the woman I had seen.

"You know her?" I asked softly, leaning slightly to one side to try and meet his eyes. But he looked away and then, finally, shook his head.

"Liar," I huffed, and went to snatch it from his hands. Only for the thick sketch paper to cut the side of right hand open.

"Ouch!" I yelped, instinctively grabbing my hand. It seemed like such a stupid move to do, but we all did it, grab at the thing that hurt as if that would prevent more pain. But the pressure on the wound caused me more pain, and made me get blood all over both my hands. "Crap!" I muttered, and began looking around for a towel or something to clean up and stem the bleeding.

Just when I spotted something, and went to turn to take it, Kalin's hand flashed out and grabbed the wrist of my injured hand, taking a step closer to me, stepping on my drawings, holding my injured hand straight up, like I was making an oath. The look in his eyes was one I hadn't seen before, and he was looking right at the blood that was now running off my hand and dripping onto the paper at our feet. It made me shiver, a cold shiver, drowning out the heat his touch would have caused.

I tried to pull away, but I froze when his other hand came up, not to touch me, but to undo the back of his muzzle.

With one hand, he undid both the clips, and the muzzle fell away to reveal his face.


	11. I Am Ready, I Am Yours

**Wow! I didn't know this chapter would be such a big hit! I have some thanks to hand out! ^_^.**

**Ali-Bear10- Thank you for the review!**

** – Really?*Perks with stars in eyes*I am? I could cry! I wanted it to be different T_T Thank you for letting me know I succeeded. **

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**Chelsertops -*tries not to cry from happiness* not predictable!**

**StarCharmer – Le gasp right back atcha!**

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**Ksea -first off, awsome name! And don't fall out your seat!*catches you***

**Exo-Politics522 – I leave you wondering? I hope it isn't too much to bare!**

**Inquisitive L – You are so enthusiastic XD I love it! Thank you!**

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**st. madness – Hey! You and Kalin have something in common! Hope you love this chapter too!**

**Whograinmustard -*whispers* can mustard be whole grain? You honestly have me curious now . I mean * cough cough* thanks so much haha. Don't die, your valuable to me!**

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**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Even those who didn't review T_T I couldn't wait to update to see what you guys would think. So here it is, the next chapter to Fatal Attraction! Please enjoy and please leave your enjoyment by reviewing! And sorry if I'm a doof!**

**Rebecca's POV**

Oh god, did I not think to myself at least a million and one times that this man was wonderfuly beautiful and sexy?

Understatement. Of the freaking year!

He was drop dead fucking sexy, the kind of face that fed sexual fantasy's and made every single girl in the room sigh with the thought of just touching that face.

I wanted to touch it, oh god, I wanted to kiss him so badly I think I was going to pass out just from the need.

He had high cheekbones and a strong sculpted chin that made his eyes look deep and intense, framed by his raven black hair that made his tanned face stand out even more than it possibly could. His lips were full but not to large and a pale pink color and when he opened his mouth to take a breath, I caught a glimpse of perfect straight and white teeth.

Oh my god, was there nothing on this male that was not sexually perfect. Just his face alone was enough to make my body thrum with excitement at just touching him. The place where he held my wrist was very aware of him, humming to his touch, sending heat strumming through the rest of my body in a cascade of dizzy pleasure that was almost too much to bare. Was this lust? Was this to want another with the very core of your being? I had never felt it towards another male, but right now, if he kissed me, I swear to god I think I would worship the ground he walked on.

And then I heard him speak, and I swear to god this male was too perfect.

"Allow me to treat your wound." it was deep and rich, and I could feel the rumble of it in the center of my chest. It took my breath away, and I swayed where I stood, causing him to have to hold my steady with another hand to my waist, which just made me want to attack him even more.

"Let. Go." I managed to get out between ragged breaths that I could not seem to stop. I wanted him, I needed him, and I did not know what I was going to do if I didn't get him. But I had a boy friend, I needed to think of that and remain faithful, no matter how painful it was to pull myself out of his very grip and the captivation of that voice.

I finally managed to drag my eyes away, looking down, only to realize that a blush had spread down my face and chest, blotting my whole cleavage that was exposed red as a strawberry. And I also realized I was bleeding all over my drawings, the face of the woman I did not know not only being blotted with my blood, but being stepped on by Kalin's sneakers. I also had blood on my bare feet, but somehow that did not even register on my importance scale.

Right now, I just needed to get the hell away from him and into a freezing cold shower.

"Allow me to tend to your wound, and I will let you go."

"No, let me go now, Kalin." I heard him sigh and I looked up to see him close his eyes briefly, before opening them again and catching me before I could look away. His gaze was pleased, those eyes so full of rich laughter and . . . oh god, I refused to identify that other emotion that I had seen his eyes before but refused to acknowledge.

"I like it when you say my name. I love pretty much anything you say, though, so I guess I am being too narrow." god dammit! I had to look away, my heart rate was starting to increase and my arousal was growing to an almost painful point. Looking into his eyes I began to lose sight of my important thoughts, being replaced with things my body found MUCH more important. But one screamed above the others.

What would it be like to orgasm just once? But more appealing, for it to be Kalin's body that brought me over that point.

But even as he was saying these things to me, apparently my wound was still highest in his mind. While I was caught in his gaze like a trapped animal, my chest heaving up and down, he began to lean towards the side of my hand.

At first I was confused on his intent, what was he doing? Didn't he need to grab a towel so we could clean up and staunch the blood.

Then his tongue took a swipe at a droplet of blood that was about to fall.

I swear to you all my breath was driven from my body in sudden realization.

He didn't mean too? Surely not? I knew some people had a fetish for not only blood but pain, and other got a sexual kick from being bitten. I did not think I was one of those people, but for some reason I could not seem to get the breath in my body to tell him not to do it. My body was curious and wanting, needing every experience that Kalin was willing to give me. If that include him taking some of my blood, would that be so bad?

Would it?

His mouth suddenly came down on the wound of my hand, it was just wide enough that it was still stubbornly bleeding. But that wasn't what got me, it was when his tongue gently but firmly traveled over the gash.

"Oh, god!" I gasped, feeling slight pain but more pleasure than anything. "Kalin!" I gasped, my knees giving out and I fell into him. But his mouth did not leave my wound, and I even felt him begin to suck as if he enjoyed the taste of my blood. The though and sensation was enough to excite my body to the point I swear I could feel my own wetness between my thighs.

Call me sadist! Just as long as I could get more of this. As if sensing my body's reaction, Kalin inhaled deeply, and with a sudden growl he lifted me. Hell, I didn't care, not even when he sat me on the kitchen table so that I was more at level with him.

When he finally drug his mouth away from my hand I gave a small cry at the loss of that pleasure that seemed to center right in my abdominal area.

"I . . ."Kalin was panting as well, putting his hands on either side of me, leaning towards me as if he just could not seem to stand up straight. I found my hands would not stay at my sides, reaching up to touch his sides, while his thumbs where stroking the skin of my outer thighs, and even that skin was highly sensitized. "Rebecca . . . I . . . I-" I broke him off though. The heat between my thighs was too much to bare, I didn't care what would happen to me after this, I just NEEDED him to touch me.

"Please, Kalin!" I gasped, rubbing my thighs together because I couldn't help it. I was going to crave him day and night after this, but even if it drove me crazy, I had to have it.

Fuck Ben.

"Rebecca?" he asked, confusion in his voice, and his expression made me realize that he was on about the same footing I was.

Oh god, he was a virgin.

That was like a douse of cold water to my arousal. Did I really just intend to have sex with him? I didn't really know him? Oh god, what was happening to me? How was I going to deal with this?

"My Becca," he growled and kissed me hard enough to make me lean back slightly with the force of it. Becca? Had he really just called me Becca? And his none the less? Oh god, Kalin, my Kalin, my sexy sweet Kalin. No one had ever called me Becca, and I wanted to hear him moan it.

I responded to his kiss, and I wish I could tell you it was not on my own violation, but then I would be lying. I may not know anything about Kalin's life, but I knew enough about him to know that my heart fluttered every time he came into my sight.

I gave a surprised moan when his hand came down on my sex through my sweat pants. Oh god, I almost just had an orgasm from that small little touch. He growled with pleasure and rubbed, making my toes curl, and little mewing sounds to come from my throat. It was scary and amazing all at the same time, to not be in control of my own body anymore. I was at his mercy.

I was his.

"More!" I managed to whisper when his mouth began to wander down my cheek to my throat, leaving a trail of fire and want. Needless to say though, if I had known how much raw animal instinct Kalin possessed, or how he would react, I probably would have said the same damn thing.

He reacted instantly, and I jerked when he pulled back, reached for the cleavage of my shirt, and tore it straight it open. I gasped, trying to draw away from him in surprise, but he also made quick work of my bra in the same manner.

"Kalin!" I gasped on a small breath, and jerked away in surprise, feeling oddly exposed and vulnerable with my breast bare, the nipples hard as if awaiting his attention. No, more like begging, since both were aching just as my sex was. But anything else I would have said was stole away when his cool hands yanked down my sweats and panties while he leaned forward and took my left nipple in his mouth and sucked like his life depended on it.

Holy shit this man was wasting no time!

I cried out and clutched at his head, and I wasn't sure if I were trying to pull him closer or push him away as waves if pleasure caused my sex to suddenly spasm with enough pleasure to make me throw my head back and cry out, arching my hips, seeking something _anything, _to ease the sudden increase of wanting it brought on. I had just cum for the first time in my life, and it made me ache for the more intense pleasure I knew an orgasm would bring me.

"Kalin!" I cried out as he switched nipples. I didn't know how to say my longing or my need out loud. I didn't even know what I needed. He growled again and his hand again found my sex, stroking with his forefinger. "Oh!" I gasped, arching up into his hand with delight. The pad of his finger easily found the swollen head of my clit and seemed to dance wonderful magic on it. It brought back the feeling of my cuming just moments before, except it was more bearable, more manageable.

"Your wet," he growled into my nipple. I wanted to snap back that of course I was, how could I not be with all of these wonderful things he was doing to my body. But then his finger entered me, I all thought fled faster than I had ever though possible. I was all sensation, feeling the roughness of his finger as it slid in and out of my sex, slick with orgasm and foreplay. Every single stroke brought me close and closer to that point, that wonderful, craved point.

Blinding need consumed me, and I wound my hands in his hair, pulling roughly, making him leave my ravished breasts behind. I had to have hurt him with how hard I pulled, but I didn't care. I got what I wanted when his mouth came down on mine with the same blind need. He pulled away slightly when I began clawing at his clothes, and he indulged me by pulling them off, having to take his hand from between my legs to do so, much to my disappointment.

But then I just had to stare.

Dressed, this man was eye candy, naked?

I think I had just cum again. He was sculpted to hard edged perfection, and I knew now what he did when he guards left him alone and he was not with me.

And while I did this, he stood there and looked at me with the same open admiration.

"You are . . ." I breathed, and I could not find the words to tell him what I was thinking. What I was wanting. What I was needling.

"You are just as beautiful as I imagined you being." he said in a low voice, and I just about fell in love with him.

"You . . . imagined me?" I asked, slightly shy, as ridiculous as that sounded. I had had lovers before him, yet I was intensely aware of his eyes as they traveled over me like no others had. They took in every single part of me they could, as if he were etching me into his brain.

His response was gratifying, that was all I could say about it. His mouth attacked mine, and his cock pressed hard up against my stomach, reigniting the fire and making me intensely aware of this male who wanted control of my body.

"Come," he pulled back to whisper against my lips, and then he kissed me again while lifting me clear off of the table. I was barley aware of it, feasting on his mouth, on the minty taste of him.

He was never putting that fucking muzzle back on. I was going to devour his mouth for hours and I would never get enough of the taste and sensation of his eager mouth moving over mine with pure lust to match my own.

But something sparked in my brain.

"Wait . . ." I tried to pull back and say, but a slight shifting has his cock brushing against my sex, and I moan aloud, thrusting my hips just to get a little more contact. I needed more, I had no idea what it was I was going to say.

He did not separate our bodies when we reached the bed, instead crawling onto it with me and then he lay our bodies flush against each other. My hands were greedy for the feel of him, as his were for me, both of us eagerly touching, finding out what made each other make each other gasp or our bodies tighten. I wiggled against him, wanting to feel more of him, needing him to stop with this blatant teasing and take me. Every other male could not wait to take me, even when I showed only casual interest in allowing them too. Why was it the one male who could give me what I craved could only slowly take his time moving up and down my body, dragging his mouth along my skin, breathing me in in a way that made tears spring to my gaze.

Several times he would place his open mouth against some part of me, and quite a few times I could have sworn I felt an odd sharpness to his teeth. But he would never bite down, though he seemed like he had to restrain himself just to prevent from doing something so trivial. Did he need reassurance?I found the thought oddly silly, but I had never been with a virgin before. Every male I had ever been with had been experienced, and I barley remembered my first time as it was.

"Kalin," I whispered his name with a wealth of compassion and want, feeling my heart beat too full in my chest.

For him.

I felt his lips curve against my stomach where he had moved too, and I gasped when he gave me a small nip that created a large stinging sensation. But his tongue immediately followed to take that lingering sting away, and I was once again distracted as he moved back up my body to rest on top of me. I could feel him pulse and throb where he rested against my stomach, but I could also sense the sudden calm in his body. This was no more a lustful and frantic joining, he was slowing the pace, taking his time.

"Have you ever felt this with anybody?"he questioned softly, but I could almost feel the silent dangerous emotions hidden behind the words. His hand went into my hair, undoing the ponytail, and making me sigh and close my eyes in content. My body still wanted him with a hard desperate edge, but it was following what he was doing as if he had spoken a command aloud.

"Have you?" this time it was a little more harsh, a gasp almost, desperate sounding. When I once again did not answer he pulled his body away from me, and I felt a feral fear grip me. My arms sprung forward and latched onto his back, nails digging in so he had no choice but to either stay put or pull until he dislodged me and drew blood. I looked up into his face, harsh lines showing from his need for me, and an almost ironic smile curved his lips.

Desperately I shook my head.

"No," I whispered, trying to arch my body up into his. I didn't know if it was a protest to him moving, or the answer to his question. Maybe both, or maybe neither. All I know is he finally gave me what I wanted. No more waiting, no more teasing, no more aching wondering.

He lowered and positioned himself until the crown of his cock rested against my entrance. The mere feel of it against the slick heat of my sex made me instinctive roll my hips, some carnal instinct I had never felt before. But his hands locked onto my hips, keeping me still, and I could tell my the look on his face he was grinding his teeth, still trying to take this slow.

I was beyond caring at this point.

"Are you ready?" he gasped out, pleasure obvious in his face, eagerness obvious in his eyes. I managed a breathless smile, pushing against his hands, against him, working him in just a little, my wetness enough for him to slide in with ease.

"How does it feel to you?" I almost growled, surprised with myself. But his response was thrilling, he growled back and gave a small thrust that had my body singing in ecstacy.

"Wonderful," he growled, and thrust the rest of the way in. This was different than any other encounter. There was no pain, no wishing for it to end, not wishing I had never let this male lay hands on me. It was wonderful and simple, as was the simple knowledge that I was as close as I could be with Kalin, and he felt it just as much as I did.

"Ah," he groaned, pausing inside my heat, and making my muscles spasm and clench around him. "Better than I imagined."

Never really had time to ponder that one. Because then came his first thrust, and that took away everything, I swear even my heart stopped for a few moments.

"More," he whispered, using his grip on my hips to pull me closer, until every single thrust rubbing our exposed skin together.

I suddenly orgasmed. I am not proud of that, I did not want this wonderful pleasure to end so soon. But his torture and pre-orgasm had my body wound up so tight it felt like I had not had sex in years. Every muscle reacted to him like it was trained to, and I could not help the shout of his name that came from my lips as my muscles tightened and clamped around him as if they would never let him go.

"Ah, my Becca," he gasped, and thrust hard enough to make my teeth clatter. He stayed penetrated deep, but did not come, as I was expecting him too. Instead he just lay on me, body to body, listening to each others heart beat beating hard and fast with post excitement. And as the minuets ticked by, my body began to chill, and my muscles relaxed into a state of euphoria that by itself alone could be as addicting as coke.

God damn, no wonder there were sex addicts.

But slowly, as the chill set in, and the excitement left, the soreness in my body began to become evident.

And with it, came the sudden shot of utter panic.

Oh god, what had I just done?

And as if to rub it in, Kalin stirred and began to slowly nuzzle my neck.

"Are you okay?" he said in a soft husky voice. That was like a douse of cold water to my face.

Oh shit!

"Kalin!" I began, my voice coming out like a gasp. I was in turmoil. Oh no, what was a going to do? What could I possibly do?

But he thought I was on about something else.

He was immediately off of me, worry and remorse on his face, his cock sliding out and making me gasp, even though he had suddenly lost his hardness.

"I am sorry!" he gasped, gently touching my face. "I am so sorry, I tried not to hurt you. I hurt you, didn't I?" oh crap, how was I supposed to keep my head when he was making me feel for him even more?

No, no, think of Ben, think of what you have done.

But I couldn't. Not fully, I was even having trouble feeling remorse.

"No, no Kalin, you didn't hurt me. It was," a big breath, " it was amazing."

He smiled, and it made me want to smile back, but I forced myself to look away from him and sit up, grabbing my robe I had on a peg beside my bed to cover myself. Kalin frowned at this, but did not comment on it, nor did he comment on my sudden distance emotionally.

I had to admit though, I felt wonderful. A little cold, a little sore, but freaking wonderful.

"Are you okay then?" he asked, standing up, oh so glorious, and came over to me. It scared me, how I suddenly craved him again, so I quickly put my hands up to stop him.

"No! Stop Kalin, it was wonderful, it was, but we need to talk. Oh god, do we need to talk." he frowned at me, and we had a standoff for a good minuet or two. This was not how I picture him taking off the muzzle. I did not imagine we would have hot steamy sex.

Oh god, we hadn't used a condom!

"Please!" I gasped, dashing past him to get to the bathroom. "Get dressed!" and I shut the door behind me and locked it, hoping he would not wait to ambush me when I came out and would just listen to what I had requested.

(****)

When I came from the bathroom, my hand bandaged, I was neither showered nor dressed due to the lack of not only clean towels in my bathroom but clean clothes. I meant to just come out, grab a towel and clothes, and come back in.

But of course Kalin was a matter I did not really think about.

He had me pinned against the wall before I had even taken four steps out of the bathroom door.

"Kalin!" I gasped, trying to wiggle to see if I could give myself any leeway from the hardness of his body. He was dressed, thank god, but it did not help that I could still feel him through the thin material of my robe.

"You are not going anywhere until you explain to me what just happened. We made love, you admitted to me that it was as wonderful for you as it was for me. And then you act like I am some vile rapist and you run from me."

"I do not want to talk about this right now, Kalin."

"Well too bad, because I just took that damn muzzle off for you, and I am kind of in the mood to talk." That sparked my temper.

"Yeah, to do what! Suck my damn hand! You knew I was on edge with the sexual tension between us, and you knew doing something like that was going to drive me over the edge. I was not ready, Kalin!"

"You are lying, your body proved to me that you were ready."

"Maybe not emotionally, did you think of that?"

"Yes," he growled, but I ignored him and continued on, the more and more I yelled the more and more my voice was beginning to get choked up with tears.

"Well then you should have found the restraint to wait! God damnit! I have a boyfriend Kalin and now I have to deal with the fact that in my eyes I cheated on him even though we had never been intimate! I am always a faithful person! And to top it off, you took me in my own bed! DAMNIT! I was supposed to invite the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life into my bed and on my own will, not drowning in pleasure to the point where I couldn't even think." now that wasn't really his fault, but I could not help but feel angry and violated.

"You know all I keep hearing out of you," he growled, obviously his own temper had sparked, and it surprised me, I had never seen it before. "I keep hearing a bunch of excuses you are wrapping around yourself because you are scared of what just happened. I know for a damn fact Becca that the moment your lips touched mine you knew I was a person you could spend the rest of your life with. I know once you felt me inside you knew you were emotionally ready. You just keep running away from the things in which you do not have control over."

"My boyfriend-" I gasped, but he broke in, silencing me.

"Is obsolete if he can not even ease that beautiful body the way I can." and with that he lifted a hand and groped a breast. To my shame my whole body reacted to the small touch, and more tears sprung to me eyes. No, no, I could not let him make me addicted to his body. But the words would not come out, especially when he bent to my throat. "I think it is time that we finish this once and for all, Becca." he placed his open mouth to the nook between my neck and shoulder, and I once again felt the sharpness of teeth against my skin.

And then I was saved by a knock at the door.

"Let me go!" I gasped, and used his distraction with my throat to put all of my force into a shove that actually got him off of me. I bolted for the door, aware my face was flushed and that I was still wearing my thin pink silk robe. I didn't care who was at the door, they had just saved me from a situation I could not have backed out of or lied my way out of.

I tore the door open, only to freeze where I stood, my heart suddenly in my throat.

"Ben?" I gasped.


	12. The Dark Savior

**Okay, I know I have taken forever to review. Bad me*slaps self on wrist* so I will try to make it up to you guys. But first O_O more comments!**

**Soangel- I am your first * teary eyes* sorry, partial sex joke.**

**xPaiige and the Starsx – Really? Eh. But thank you for the compliments is* warm and fuzzy now* but as to your other question, I cannot fully answer fully for I will give away future plot developments but I can say that if you re-read Kalin did not come inside of her, and that is all I can say . * wants to tell you but cant* AHHHH!**

**well crap- XD wonderful name! Lol. Thank you, I stressed over this scene for a long time. My fiance wont stop teasing me about it.**

**Hikaru69- What would you say if you found your girlfriend alone and half naked in her apartment with another man who was sexually superior than you? Well, whatever it is, it wont be what Ben says XD**

**StarCharmer- WHY DOES NO ONE LIKE BEN! Sheesh, havent really introduced the guy yet! XD**

**chelseratops- hot sexy man XD sorry, makes me giggle.**

**DearCupcake-*turns red * im not amazing, I just have a very vocal fiance and awsome readers!**

**Wholegrainmustard – Again, another vote for Ben to dissapear XD poor man. And ew? I would not like that my hotdogs XD but you know what now I so have to put that in the story.**

**Inquisitive L – :D delicious? I love the words you guys use, makes me feel like some writing goddess XD stop giving me a big head people!**

**ksea – Just please don't die of an overdose!**

**St. madness – your both mad, haha get it? Heh? Oh -_- joke fell flat XD and as to your question, all shall be answered in time!**

**Dragonman10 – hahaha XD don't try too hard on my account kay? YAY! I somehow became the master of cliffhangers even though I hate them so much when I read them yet I do it to my readers.**

**And to all those who reviewed and I did not reply to thank you! Here is the next chapter to Fatal Attraction! Thank you so much!**

**Rebecca's POV**

"Ben?" I said his name again as if I could just magically blink my eyes and he would not be standing here at my door with me wearing nothing but a thin robe.

Well fuck me! Again!

He took in my robe and messed up hair with a cool appraisal in those blue eyes, but it somehow made me feel defensive, as if he were already pointing a finger and calling me a cheater. I shifted uncomfortably, keeping the door as shut as possible in hopes he would not see Kalin no doubt glowering at my backside.

"I went to take a shower only to find I had no clean clothes in the bathroom." I said in a defensive tone, and his eyes brows rose at the sound, and I felt slightly guilty. Great, like I needed more guilt. "I am sorry, Ben." I said softly, and touched my forehead with my hand.

"Its okay, I get that your stressed out. I ran into Crystal on her way out of yoga class. She seemed kind of pissed off and all that, and she said there was something I needed to see and told me to head over here straight away." he smiled, his ruffle short brown hair making him look boyish. "But you seem busy. Is there someone in there with you?" a simple question, there was not a hint of accusation or knowing in his eyes.

I studied Ben, noting the differences between him and Kalin. Ben stood at least a foot shorter than Kalin, almost my height, and his body was not as hard and shaped as Kalin's either. I shook my head hard as soon as I realized what I was doing. Crap, I as not going to start that.

"Yeah," I said absent mindedly. "A student I am tutoring, but he dropped by right after yoga so I made him wait while I took a shower, and well yeah, then you came."

"Oh, is this the same one you have been tutoring for the past month?" he looked curious, and I nodded, dreading what was coming next. "Well, may I come in and meet him? Maybe I can keep him company while you go take your shower. You look like you need it."

Ouch, thank you Ben for reminding me why it was so hard to feel guilty about this.

"Okay," I said uncertainly. Surely Kalin would not say anything about what we had done?He would not fuck me over like that, would he? He seemed to care enough about me that I didn't think he would, but then again he also wanted me for himself and Ben was that kind of obsticale.

Okay, well, time to see if Kalin was an honorable man.

"Come on in," I said, finally standing back and holding the door wide open. In a moment of panic I turned to see if my clothes were still laying where they had been discarded, since I was sure they had been there when I had come out of the bathroom. But they were not there now, and I had a moment of silent relief that Kalin had thought to pick those up.

Okay, so far so good.

But Ben had stopped in the door way, and I didn't notice until I had moved into the apartment and did not hear the door shut. I stopped, looking behind me to find him still standing in the door way, his gaze locked with Kalin's. I looked at Kalin to find him standing tall and proud, muzzle and straight jacket off, his body strong and . . . oh so . . . delicious.

I shook my head hard again, and forced a confused smile at Ben. He did not seem to pay attention to me, him and Kalin still seeming caught up in each other. Okay, I did not know what was going on. I knew the feeling of male testosterone on the rise, and this was not that feeling.

"Ben, this is Kalin. Kalin, this is Ben, my-" but Ben cut in before I could finish.

"Friend." my head whipped to look at him. Say what?

"Huh?" I said blankly.

"Me and Rebecca have been friends since we met in the hospital a couple of months ago. Isn't that right, Rebecca?" Ben gave me a smile, finally looking away form Kalin, and I found myself gritting my teeth in frustration and anger, as well as confusion.

"Yeah, whatever." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. I was screwed now, since I had Ben here all but renouncing me from his sight. Sheesh, from the way he was acting I was surprised he hadn't denied knowing me at all. Was he really that intimidated my Kalin? I mean, yeah, he was drop dead gorgeous, but still!

_Grow a back bone!_ I wanted to yell, but my mouth stayed firmly locked shut. I turned my head to look away from Ben, to hide how much this rejection had hurt, even though I had been fighting to break up with him for months, and caught Kalin staring at me. And I mean open-eyed-I-refuse-to-blink staring. And the emotion in his eyes was enough to make my tears well over.

_I care for you,_ his eyes spoke to me. _I need you, and I will never hurt you._ I wanted to believe it, but everything was just moving so fast. I knew this should simplify things. I should be able to just shuck off this hurt and enjoy Kalin all the more. But us having sex seemed to have complicated things between us more than they had been, and I did not know what to do. It seemed wrong to be with him like this behind closed doors, him wearing his muzzle and jacket for the rest of the world and then showing me the true side of him. I couldn't do it. And I didn't know if I was ready for someone to claim me and love me the way I knew he would.

"You said you were going to keep him company while I showered." I reminded Ben with a snap to my voice, which he either ignored or did not hear.

"Did I?" he sounded perplexed, confused, and I looked at him again, eyes dry, and disbelief making them wide. "Sorry, Rebecca, but I can't. I have a meeting with my teacher in about ten minuets."

Lying. Little. Git.

I wanted to strangle him to death right on my doorstep.

But before I could do that, my cellphone rang, and I reached out with hand shaking with anger to answer it.

"What!" I snapped into it.

"I need you at the club." my brothers cool voice slid over the phone, and it made me want to puke. Like I needed his crap right now. And yet, everything just seemed to want to come at me at once!

"Whatever!" I snapped, and knowing what he was going to say, I said "I will be there when I get there." and I snapped the phone shut on whatever he was going to say.

"Who was that?" Ben asked, as if he were truly concerned. I was done with playing the homemaker. I was downright pissed and tired.

"Ben?" I asked, my voice flat and calm.

"Yeah, Rebecca?" he seemed almost relieved, like he expected me to hit him. I still might, so he better not get so damn happy.

"Get the fuck out of my apartment," and with that I turned on my heel and went towards my dresser. I heard Ben muttered a shock response, something about seeing me later, and then the door shut.

"Are you okay?" Kalin asked, true concern in his voice. I felt his presence more strongly as he moved closer, and it made my skin crawl and how comforting and familiar it was.

"No!" I yelled, spinning around to face him, and I had to give it to him, he didn't step back from my anger, but stayed his ground to take it head on. "My own boyfriend just fucking threw me at your feet like I was a piece of property, you took advantage of me in my own bed, we didn't use a freaking condom, so thank god you didn't come, or I would be raising hell." I turned my back on him, yanking out clothes with angry jerks. "And then my fucking bastard of a brother wants me to come and play piano at his goddamn club. So no, Kalin. I am not. Fucking. Okay!"

He didn't say anything, nor did he try and touch me, which was good because I was at my breaking point as it was. I think he had touched me I would have broken down in his arms, and then I would have lost all respect for myself. I would not stoop down to having someone take care of my feelings. No one but me.

But goddammit, I could have loved Kalin. I really could have.

Just like from the look in his eyes, I knew he already loved me.

I stripped off the rob right there. What was the point? It was nothing he hadn't already seen and I was in no mood to be discreet and shy.

"I thought you were going to take a shower." he said in a mild tone, knowing he was treading on dangerous ground. I felt like I could go mad at anytime, and kick the hell out of him. Or kiss him to death, either seemed a pleasurable choice, but not both would end in the kind of outlet my anger needed.

"I don't have time if I don't want my brother pissed as hell at me when I arrive. Not like he isn't going to be already." I muttered, pulling on a new bra and shirt.

"What kind of man is your brother?" he asked, and I could hear the frown in his voice. How could I describe my brother?

"You will see when you meet him."

"So I am going with you?" he asked quietly, and I could sense an undertone of pleasure. He thought I was going to leave him here at my apartment? I was pissed but I wasn't a bitch host.

"Would you have allowed me to go by myself?" I asked, and he said nothing, so I knew the answer already. He would not have allowed me to walk out that door without him either right on my heels or following me at a distance. "That's what I thought." I hissed, moving over to my mirror that hung on the wall to tie my hair into a bun so I didn't look a complete mess.

"You look fine," he said so softly I almost didn't hear it. My heart swelled and I swear to god I was going to cry. But I somehow managed to keep a straight face and cool demeanor as I turned on my heel to find my bag with my shoes it in. In the process I picked up all my pictures that I had dribbled blood on and threw them in the trash. Okay, honestly, I threw away even the ones I hadn't gotten blood on, that was a testament to my mood.

"You asked me if I knew that woman," he said by way of trying to divert the mood. But I put a stop to that quick.

"I don't give a fuck!" I snapped, not even bothering to see his expression. The one thing Kalin did not know about me was I could keep grudges, and I could breed them good. I stood, now with my shoes and socks on, and went to my closet to get my keyboard and its case. I hadn't played much lately, but I hadn't needed to with Kalin here to keep my company. Looks like I might need to pick that back up.

I went and dragged out the heavy case none too gently, not even caring if any damage came to the stupid thing. Kalin moved slightly closer, his expression questioning, and I gave him a glare that answered his question. No, I would not let him carry the damn thing for me. If his hands came anywhere near me I was going to bite them off, so help me god.

"Come on, I would rather not drag this out longer than I need too. Because I am going to do this gig, come home, and then I am going to get drunk." and I moved past him to the door, lugging the case at my side, steeling myself against the weight. I knew my arms were going to be begging for relief by the time I made it to the club, since we had to walk and all.

Then, suddenly, the case was gone from my hands, and I glance back to find Kalin had plucked it from my iron grip as if I had been only holding it with a feather light grip with a single finger. I spun on him right there in the middle of the hall way, with some of my classmates passing by, some stopping to stare at this new gorgeous stranger. I was about to rip him a new one, how dare he try to be a gentle men, but I had apparently sparked his temper. Again. Twice in less than twenty minuets, seems I was on my way to making records.

"Stop being stupid." he hissed softly, leaning close to me so that no one would overhear. But from my steely expression and his, it was obvious to everyone that we were fighting. "Go ahead and be mad, throw a fit, ignore me for this whole trip if you wish. But stop being stupid!"

"How am I being stupid!" I demanded, wanting to slap him for making me want to cry again. God damn all men!

"You know this case is heavy, and you know I am stronger than you are and I am willing to carry it. And yet you allow your anger to get in the way of logic and it is causing pain to your body."

"Like you did?" I hissed, and immediately regretted it. It was a low hit, and he didn't deserve that spat at him with such venom. I was sore, as I would have been from making love to anyone.

His expression turned stark and hurt, and he drew back away from me. God damn, I really regretted it.

"I caused pain to your heart, but I will never allow you to cause harm to yourself." was his simple and quite reply. His eyes were now closed off, and his posture was stiff and unwelcoming. I felt like a bitch.

I opened my mouth to apologize, my anger deflating, when I felt a familiar presence and I stiffened.

"Well, well, Kalin and Ben just aren't good enough for you, are they Rebecca?" Crystal's voice sneered. Kalin's eyes tightened with anger at these words, but I could take care of myself.

"And apparently being a boy-stealing skank isn't enough for you, now you also have to be a world wide bitch." I hissed, spinning to face her. She looked stunned at the insult, but then she caught sight of Kalin, who she did not actually know was Kalin.

"Well, well, aren't you a pretty thing," she drawled, her body automatically trying to take a more seducing posture, her face transforming into the picture of lust.

Ohhhhh, did that set me.

"Cheating bitch!" I hissed and stormed past her, glancing back only to see Kalin laughing softly as he moved around Crystal as if she were nothing more than a puddle on the floor. That was something good to see, since every guy seemed to drool over her. Not to mention her boyfriend was the guy I had liked for two years, and she had stolen him from me, knowing full well how I felt. It was one of the reasons I had moved through so many boyfriends so quickly.

Needless to say, I did not care much for him anymore.

"You have a sharp tongue when you need it." Kalin said, and I could hear the praise and pride in his voice, and it made my chest swell. I actually gave him a slight smile over my shoulder, thinking that maybe this day would not end so bad after all. Maybe this would work out.

I hoped so, because my sanity could not take anything more happening.

(****)

Me and Kalin approached my brothers club at a slow walk. Sometime during the trip he had managed to spark up a conversation about my music, the only subject that seemed safe enough to talk about without getting personal. I enjoyed talking about my music, but Kalin seemed more interested in how I ended up getting into it, and why I continued it. It was tricky, to explain to him my . . . way of doing thing. I also had to dance around the fact of my frequent doctors visits, mostly because I did not want to think about blood right now.

It brought back some . . . blushing moments to say the least.

"How much do you make?" he asked, and it wondered if that was a safe question to answer.

"Well, one a good week, and I can almost twenty thousand dollars, sometimes more, if I pack all my spare moments with gigs."

"Twenty thousand?" he asked with a stunned expression. "And yet you cannot buy a car?" ahhhh, stuck! Most of the money went towards college, and the other went towards the doctors bills. And yes, they were that expensive, from all the trial medications, the tests, sometimes we even had to order new medical equipment in order to test my blood in new ways. I thought it was pointless, but I would never put Philip down that way. He seemed so sure he would find a way to stop my body from making extra blood. And I was starting to get the feeling he was blaming Kalin for the new speed my body made blood.

But that was crazy, wasn't it? He relaxed me more than anyone else.

Well, cept for latley.

"Uh, no, my bills are expensive."

"What bills?" he questioned with a suspicious look in his eyes. "Surely you do not mean purely school? I have seen the amount of tuition, and it is about thirty thousand a year. What other bills do you have?"

"Um, well I pay electricity. I have to pay for my instruments to be in perfect condition. Then the little things they need sometimes, like tune ups, strings, picks, sometimes I buy a new case if the old one gets too beat up. Then food, clothes, supplies." I shrugged, hoping he wouldn't see that all those things still did not add up the difference.

But I was once again saved today when we made it to my brothers club.

"Well, here we are," I said, shielding my eyes from the late afternoon sun to get a better view. It was pretty busy, as it usually was. My brother did know how to run a business.

"There you are!" I flinched at the sound of my brothers voice, and sighed as I saw him coming out of the back door to the club. He looked angry, but then again he always looked angry.

"Hey brother!" I called, trying to make this day turn around, but he did not respond to my greeting. My brother stopped when he saw Kalin, though, and I got the sensation that he was feeling somewhat intimidated.

"Whoring yourself out again are you?" my brother asked with a slight tinge of bitterness to his voice. I felt shock light my face, and I could only guess the expression was mirrored on Kalin's as well.

"Excuse me?" I sputtered, hoping I had heard him wrong. What the hell was that supposed to mean.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter." my brother said it with a dismissive air, but I was still recovering from shock. Was he trying to humiliate me because Kalin was here? And then he said something that dug me in a deeper hole. "Your god damn doctor isn't going to take you away again is he? You already saw him once this week, I mean that is when you are supposed to see him or whatever right?"

"What doctor?" Kalin asked in confusion, and I was cursing under my breath, hoping my brother would just keep him mouth shut. But of course he wouldn't why would he?

"The stupid doctor Rebecca here has to see every week for something or other. Something from birth, think she may be dying or something."

"I am not dying!" I shouted at my brother, stomping forward, disbelief clear on my face. "Stop talking about this your know nothing of! You know the doctors visits are important, I have been going ever since I was born! Why do you have to be such a dick!"

Yeah, shouldn't have decided it was a good idea to stand up to my brother, I hadn't noticed he was drunk as could be.

His hand came across my face hard enough to knock me off my feet. I cried out in surprise, tear rushing down my face at the sudden stinging pain. My brother had struck me before, I didn't know why I didn't think he would do it again.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that, you little whore! The only thing you were born for is so you could make money for mom and dad. So shut you mouth and serve your-" my brother never got a chance to say more. Because my keyboard case suddenly came up from behind him, hitting his head and his upper back. I heard a loud cracking noise, and then my brothers eyes closed and he fell into a heap on the ground as if he were no more than a rag doll.

My mouth fell open, and I stared at the heap of meat that was my brother. I wasn't worried he was dead, I could see him breathing, and he wasn't bleeding or anything. But had Kalin really just done that? He could have killed him! What was he thinking?

My stunned gaze flew up to match Kalin's, who was standing there with the keyboard case still in hand, panting as if he had run miles, anger still defining the hard lines of his face and eyes. But when his gaze met mine, understanding suddenly lit them, but he did not look horrified or guilty.

"Becca . . ." he said softly, but I could not let go of the horror of what he had done.

"What did you do, Kalin?" I whispered, tears rolling down my face.

Life was about to be hell for me from now on.

**Kalin's POV**

Things got a little blurry after I had struck Becca's brother. The cops and the ambulance came, and Becca went to speak to them, telling me to stay out of sight. I did not allow myself to feel happy over the fact that she was protecting me. Things were ruined between the two of us, I could tell that as clear as day. She knew why I had done it, after I had sputtered it out when she had moved away from me every time I had tried to touch her. I had just made leeway just to destroy it all in my blind anger.

She told them what had happened, and the cops said it was self defense, and they said they would have to wait for he brother to awaken to see if he wanted to press charges? Whatever the hell that meant. I was half tempted to ask one of my clan members to sneak into the hospital and make sure he never woke up.

But I would never be able to go back to me clan if me and Becca did not fully join. We had made love, which was the joining of the soul, but I had not taken enough of her body in order for us to complete the joining of the body. And if we did not complete it, I would be on the verge of sanity and madness, forever, until it was finally done. If I was to leave her presence I did not know what would happen, this had never happened in all of our history. I had yet to even tell her about me or my people, and from the looks of this I was weary as to how she would take it. Modern day women were supposed to be stronger and more open minded than the older fashioned one, but I knew she would mistake my for a vampire, unless I could prove to her otherwise.

The cops had gone now, as well as the ambulance, and I approached her, standing with her arms crossed over her chest, seeming deep in thought or misery. Was what I had done so bad? Her brother seemed like a bad person, would it really be so bad if he fell off the end of the planet? Or was it something I did not know of? And what was this about a doctor?

"Becca," I said softly, reaching out to touch her back.

"Go away, Kalin!" she said softly, and I could hear tears in her voice. It hurt my heart, I did not want my other half to hurt so. I love her, her smile, her laugh, her whole being. She was the most purest and beautiful person I had ever met in my life. And it was a long, long life, though over half of it had been spent in blinding madness. Waiting for her to set me free.

But now it seemed like the price of me being free was going to be harming her. It wasn't worth it, my happiness versus hers, she would always come first, no question.

"But, Becca, please just look at me. I have to speak with you. You did it, you set me free-" I got no more out of my mouth, for she was like a rubber band that had been wound too tight. She had taken what I had said the wrong way, and siezed on it to ease her hurting.

"If all you wanted was your damn freedom you didn't have to take me to bed to do it!" she screamed and began to run from me. I reached out and grabbed her, only to jerk back when she spun and hissed at me, actually hissed at me between her teeth, like a wild animal. It was pure and carnel, and I knew I had hurt more deeply than anyone ever had.

"Becca," I began again, trying to keep back as she began walking backwards. She could not leave, dammit! I didn't know what would happen if she did. "Please, we need to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, Kalin. If you had really cared about me you would have kept that damn muzzle on until I was really ready. Congratulations, your free, now stay the hell away from me." and she bolted. I sighed, knowing it was pointless to chase her and make a scene, but I just wish she would have listened to me for a minuet.

_I am Thorian. You will never want again. You will never be lonely._ These were the thing I wanted to say to her, needed to, and I had flubbed it. God damn!

"You would be ashamed of me, if you could see me now Thais." I said the name as it was properly pronounced, Ty-ees. The name of my sister, the one who I had not seen since the day my mother had died.

I didn't know what was going to happen now. Rebecca was now in danger, I would not be there when the guards came back. They had known she was mine, they had just been biding their time, waiting for her to give me back my sanity, and hoping they could get what they wanted from her. I had to protect her, but I didn't know if I would even be in the right mind to do that.

What did you do, when the woman you loved was so beautiful it made your heart ache?

The world hadn't fucked me over this time, I had done it on my own. I wanted my clan. I wanted my sister, but most of all I wanted the love of my life. She was so perfect me for me, why could I not be for her?

I would do all I could, but I could not guarantee my own sanity.

Madness was sneaky like that.

While I could I enjoyed the feel of nature around me, allowed it flow through me like it did for all of my people. It sang for me, welcomed me, offered me comfort and shelter. But I could not listen to its call right now, I had things I had to do.

Even if the woman I loved fought me to death on it.


	13. Pain Through The Numbness

**Hey people, sorry about the update delay! I would have had one up wayyyy sooner cept my comp decided it didn't like my new chapter and deleted it. So here it is, sorry no new comments to my reviewers, though a big thanks to you all! Here is what you have been waiting for! Song of the day? Well two, It Only Hurts by Default, and** **Chante from Marilou!**

**Rebecca's POV**

I was drunk.

Or was drunk even the right word?

I may have been wasted, or trashed, or hell, I think even the word blotto may have covered me. All I knew is after I had left Kalin standing in the dust, I had dropped by the store, bought a whole bunch of alcohol, and was now making my way through it as fast as I could. I was not even aware of what I was drinking anymore, it was just what my blurred eyes could see and what my shaking hands could reach. I could only tell the difference between the hard liquor and the fruity drinks by the way it burned when it went down my throat.

Now, I wasn't proud of it, but this was the only way I seemed to able to numb the feeling in my chest. The feeling that I had in the center of my chest. The feeling that I may have just turned my back on the best thing in my life. I didn't know Kalin all too well, sure, but he was able to do things no one could. He made me always want to smile around him, and to be touched, though I usually hid the deep craving I had for touch. He was all the things I had knew I wanted in a man. Protective, loving, supportive, and had that deep animalistic nature that almost made me want to lick my lips with the thought of it. He seemed to have the deep instincts of a wild animal, and it made me want to shy away while also making me want to edge closer to feel the hum along my skin.

I mean, what was I supposed to do? I knew Kalin could love me, and I could love him. And not puppy love either, but a deep love that could last beyond the grave. Every girl dreamed of something like that at one point or another in her life, but what did they do when they actually came up against it? I had been a coward, I had fled, when all I had wanted to do was throw my arms around him and squeeze until I forgot the rest of the world and my arms had no circulation. That is why I had bolted, and I had not looked back. If I had seen the look of longing and hurt of being left behind once more I would not have been able to take another step.

But the hardest thing was being unable to tell him that he was not the reason I had ran. My life was about to turn into a hell. Once my brother woke up and told my parents what had happened, they would shun me from the family. It was hard enough to deal with the fact that I could never earn my parents love, it was hard to wrap my head around the fact I would have no family left.

And that did not even compare to the pain I had been feeling at the thought of losing Kalin.

I blinked, feeling a strange wetness on my face. Reaching up I touched my cheek, to find tears on my cheeks. I started in surprise, wondering how it was that I was crying when all I felt was numb inside, the alcohol having killed the pain. Did the deep need for Kalin really pierce through the numbness to bring tears to me eyes? How could I be in pain when I did not even feel it?

Or did the emptiness count as pain? Did the deep dark void I now had in my chest count as a pain so deep it could never be healed?

I slammed my fist on the table. Partially hoping to feel _something,_but everything was numb, even my hand and fingers, and I felt nothing but a lingering tingle from the impact.

And nothing else.

But it cause the table to bump and for several of my bottles to fall off, caps still off, and begin spewing their nose burning contents all over the floor.

"Fuck!" I swore, but my words were slurred. I lifted my head slightly higher, hating how the room would not seem to just stop spinning. Just as much as I hated the fact that that spinning would not even allow me to look at the clock across the room and read an accurate time.

I tried to stand, which yeah, I know, was once of the worst decisions I could have made. I fell, landing hard on the tile of my kitchen floor, and did not bother trying to get up automatically. Instead, I lay my head on the carpeted seam between my bedroom and the kitchen.

Right now, the universe just made no sense. Things were good, then they weren't, then they were better, then they get even worse. I had lost my best friend, one of the best guys I had know, my old boyfriend, and the family I had continued to try so hard to cling onto. And I had gained nothing but a promise of vomiting and one of the worse hangovers in history.

Speaking of.

I just barley managed to stumble to a crouch and stumble into the bathroom before I puked out everything in my stomach, which was apparently more than I had bargained for.

And I then just did the new habit I seemed to have gained.

I lay on the floor, feeling the cold chill of the bathroom floor steal the warmth from my body like a cold blooded parasite.

What did Kalin think of me now?

I began shivering, and I knew I should stand, the alcohol was wearing off, it never lasted long, which is why I had to keep drinking. I knew I should pull myself together and what felt like the shattering pieces of my heart. I should plaster a smile, take a shower, take some Tylenol, brush my teeth and go apologize to Crystal like the beggar I was. I should continue on with my now meaningless life like if I could just work harder I could make it worth something. I would somehow manage to deal with what would happen when my brother woke up, and I would manage to muster the emotional wall I knew I would need.

Or I could just lay here on the bathroom floor and hopefully cry myself to sleep while I slowly died of hypothermia.

Even that annoying sound coming from the pocket of my jeans could go to hell.

I remember the look of the white speckled ceiling and my silver shooting star shower curtain.

And then the darkness of death.

**Kalin's POV**

I wanted her.

I needed her.

But I couldn't think.

Couldn't speak.

What was happening to me? Why could I not grasp my thoughts to myself? Why was I aware of the madness that was consuming me? Why could I not just push it away, I should have been able to push it away!

And now here I was, back at the place where I had ended up when the madness had overtaken me. A lab of sorts, a lab created by the enemy of my people, the enemy that had once been part of our people until they had begun worshiping a different goddess and they had changed according to her, while we stayed the same, worshiping the same goddess we had since she had made us.

And then they had come to hate us when our goddess had said our men had suffered enough, we had been lonely enough, and she had given us the ability to recognize our other halves, but as payment, we must deal with the madness.

Where was Becca? My Becca? I feared for her, even though I could sense nothing through the burning in my skin and the madness in my thoughts. She was the first and foremost. I tried not to feel anger or betrayal at her leaving me behind. At making me like this, when the bond was not complete, for not giving me a chance to explain. I love her, but she had left me alone to fall back into madness and for my old keepers to come looking for me. And I could not even fight then in the state I was in. The madness came and went, as I found out lying in the back of their car, my hands and feet shackled, and hear them talking about Becca.

Would they go for her? Please, please let them not go for her. And yet, I swear I heard a familiar voice, but the madness consumed me again before I could confirm the suspicion.

And then clarity came to me again, and I found myself shacked to one end of a dimly lit room. Plain walls, cement floor, and no windows. Just a single light above me, which worried me. I did not need the light to see, and neither did they.

So why had they put it there?

**Rebecca's POV**

I thought I was finally dead. But no. Suddenly, there was sound.

And then sensation.

A sharp stinging on my cheek made my closed eyes water and my already pounding head feel like it was going to explode. I groaned; not like I meant too, seemed like my mouth and brain decided they wanted to work together and completely leave me out of the equation. And it elicited a response.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" a gruff voice demanded with amusement.

"I didn't do anything! I just called her, she didn't pick up, so then I went to her place and found her lying on the floor and alcohol all over the floor. I thought she was having a fit and had tried to commit suicide." the voice sounded familiar. "And don't even give me that disbelieving look. You know how crazy the brides of Thorian's can be." Throrian? What the hell were they on about?

I managed to crack open my eyes, trying to ignore the pain that the simple amount of light was causing, and focused on the person who I now realized was propping my top half up off the floor.

"Jimmy?" I gasped, the sound coming out as a small gasp.

He turned his attention back at me, and a mean grin lit his face.

"Bout time you woke up. Though I don't think I would have minded smacking you a little bit more. Never did like you, not from the moment you were made."

Huh? Moment I was made? What the hell did that mean.

And what the hell was it with the men in my life being complete assholes? Was a I just a magnet for them or something?

Once I got out of this mess, no more, I swore it.

I would have gotten myself up out of his arms, but my hangover would not allow my brain to find the right extensions for me to gain control over my limbs. So I was force to just lay there and gap up at the guy I had had a crush on for several years.

"What the hell is going on here!" I demanded, feeling my hand twitch. Well, it was progress, I suppose.

"Oh, isn't she all fire and ice?" the same gruff voice I had heard before demanded, and leaned over Jimmy's shoulder. I caught sight of dark chestnut hair, a handsome face, green eyes, before Jimmy spoke and my eyes magnitized to his face.

"Yeah she is, wonder how she will though when we stick her in a room with vampire Kalin and let him eat away at her while we just sit here and listen to her scream or help."

Vampire? What?

"Yeah, bet she wont be so cocky then!"

But my brain had pushed everything else out of the way and siezed on one thing.

"You guys have Kalin?" I gasped, and suddenly my limbs were working, and I manged to shove at Jimmy and stand on my own. I was a little wobbly, but at least I wasn't lying in his arms or on the cold floor anymore. Sheesh I was so sick of the cold.

"Seems eager, doesn't she? She doesn't even have a clue of what is going on. Okay, you want to see Kalin?" Jimmy suddenly reached out and snagged my arm, making me stumble, to where his associate grabbed my hair. I cried out, grabbing his hand, and was so fed up with being pushed around. I tried to fight back, but the pain in my head was crippling, and I severely regretted drinking.

I had no choice but to follow when he began dragging me along, biting my lips and trying not to make a sound to give them the satisfaction. Jimmy was still laughing though, and though my confusion on what was going on I felt my anger and temper growing. It was just begging to override my pain when they opened a door and my whole body froze along with my heart when I saw Kalin chained to the wall in a plain room.

"Hey Kaliiiin," Jimmy cried, and Kalin stirred. "Just thought I should tell you that you have a visitor. And guess what, she came with us without a fuss. Turned her back on your real quick, didn't she?" I wanted to turn, to tell him to shut the hell up, that he didn't know what he wad talking about. But then Kalin raised his head, and his look stopped what little breath I had left.

Kalin stared at me, ruthlessness in his very gaze, the purest promise of revenge, of pain. And yet still I wanted him. "Don't worry, girly." the man holding her me growled in my ear. "We wont let your vampire love eat your body after he kills you."

Could it be true?

Could Kalin really be . . . a vampire?

**REVIEW! PLEASE! HAPPY V-DAY! Haa XD irony, v-vampire.**


	14. Sweet Taste Of Darkness

**Hey people, sorry it took so long, work is trying to kill me! Thank you to all those who reviewed . . . cept the one reviewer who said was going to stab me XD I am a little scared now.**

**Rebecca's POV**

It was hell being in that room with a Kalin I did not know.

It was if there was a madness in him, a madness that I could not sooth and he could not control. The floor was so cold, but I pressed myself into the wall and had no other choice than to sit on the floor.

I tried to talk to him so many times, tried to convince myself that what they had told me was not true. But every time he would hear my voice he would roar for me, and thrash against his restraints until he bled. I began to fall quiet, and pressed my hands to my hears so hard they went numb. Tears rolled down my face in fear and confusion, and the proof that I could not deny was right there. Every time he would open his mouth his fangs were there, and the pieces were all coming together.

Him taking my blood, the slight sharpness to his teeth.

But everything else still fell under shadow and chaos.

I don't know why he called for me, as if I were the one thing that could take this suffering away. But I was too scared to go near him, they had seen to that. He was a vampire, he could kill me, and I did not want to take my chances.

How long before someone realized that I was missing? The school wouldn't even notice, since I was in and out of class constantly with my health issues and my family matters. Crystal and me were in a fight, so she would not come looking for me, and the only one who saw me on a regular basis in my family was my brother and sister. My brother was in the hospital, and my sister would be busy with her students for the rest of the week.

That only left Philip.

If he called and I did not pick up, he would assume something was wrong. He was going to contact me about some test results, so that may work in my favor. And when I did not show up to our appointment, that would tip him off, and he would call the police to look for me.

At least I hope.

And what did Jimmy mean, from the moment I was made? What did he mean about the Thorian? Kalin was a vampire, or was there different breeds?

I didn't know! Nothing made sense to me anymore!

Finally, even with the cold stinging my limbs, the stress and tears gave me the exhaustion I need to pass out.

But it seemed Kalin was there even in my dreams.

**Kalin's POV**

Suddenly, I had sanity again.

And there was two things I became aware of.

One, I was chained to a wall. Forgive me, but that was kind of a hard thing to miss.

And two, Rebecca was huddled in the corner, as far away from me as she could possibly get. And it meant one big horrifying thing.

Even in her presence the madness would not go away as it would before. It meant the magic was going haywire, and I needed to fix it as soon as possible, otherwise I did not know what would happen. As it was, in my maddened state, I could not even fight when these people came to take me, finding me on the side of the road where Rebecca had left me.

Had they done something to her?

The thought made a growl rise in my throat, especially when I noticed she was shivering uncontrollably, and from the limpness of her hands, asleep.

"Rebecca?" I asked in a soft voice, and it came out scratchy, like I had been yelling for hours. My wrists had dried blood on them, and it made my heart fall at the thought of what had gone one.

I tried again.

"Rebecca?" I asked a little louder, and she stirred.

"Hmmm?" she murmered, giving a hard shivering, her body attempting to warm.

"Rebecca, baby, I need you to wake up."

"Kalin?" she gasped, her head suddenly coming up, her eyes bloodshot even as she stood. "Kalin, I was so scared, you just kept yelling and yelling, you wouldn't say anything to me. And they told me you were a vampire, and you even have fangs! And they said I came anywhere near me you would kill me but I felt like I was dying from not going near you but I was so afraid and I am still so afraid! Please tell me they lied! Tell me those fangs were fake and they drugged you to make you act like that!" by now tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she took a wobbly step forward, even as I leaned as far as I could towards her, wanting to touch her, sooth her. I would kill them for doing this to her, my precious Becca, she had nothing to do with this war between us.

Or did she?

No, certainly she couldn't be.

"Becca, I need you to listen to me . . ." but she butted in again.

"Kalin, tell me they are lying, please!" she gasped, sobbing now, and my heart ached for her.

"I would never hurt you, Becca." that was all I could say. It was the only piece of truth I had to give her. I could not tell her about my people yet. I could not tell her about them. I wanted to tell her about all of that when this was over, when she was calm enough to actually take it all in. All it would do now is scare her.

But there was one thing I could not avoid.

So why would it not come out of my mouth?

Just as I was about to explain what we needed to do, the door opened and Jimmy came in, dragging her out by the arm while she kicked and put up a fight. She did not call for me, whether because she did not want them to know we were talking, or because she honestly did not feel like she could call out for me with all of the secrets that surrounded this place.

Then the madness came.

**Rebecca's POV**

They wanted my blood. I didn't know why, and when they fed me and actually gave me a blanket to warm myself, I was so out of it I didn't even care.

But that didn't mean I didn't listen.

"There is no sign of cellular death, as in the others. As a matter of fact, she is producing blood as intended and heals well. Her body also rejects unnatural and unhealthy substances." the voice was one I didn't know, and it didn't matter, because I had no idea what they were talking about. Surely not about me, like I was some kind of lab rat they had designed?

"Good, and what about baring children?" this voice sounded familiar, but I could not rouse myself enough to check it out.

"She does not seem to pose the same threat as the other female that was a success. But there is always the probability that she will fall into a coma like the rest of them."

"What about the probability to produce female children?"

"We won't know until she has a child. Though I do not think we got around the self destruct gene built into Thorian blood that makes them sterile after their first child."

"Shit!" the swear was muffled, even I barley heard it. I was working so hard to keep myself awake, it was hard to translate what they were saying.

"I am sorry, ma'am. But that is just something that we have no even found in the blood yet. Hell, it may not be a gene at all."

"Your saying their goddess makes it so?" the woman snorted, and it helped rouse me a little bit.

"I am saying that just as the males have to pay for the gift of a soul mate by suffering through the madness until she comes, maybe the women have to suffer through only being able to bare one child as their payment." there was silence for awhile after that, in which is was so hard to stay awake for. After awhile, I began to fear that they had figured out I was not asleep, but was listening, and that they had moved on.

But then that female spoke again.

"See that she is better taken care of. I do not want her and Kalin in the same cell until we are ready. I know he has had a taste of her blood, and now without it he will slowly sink more into madness and his body will waste away without its nourishment. Make sure she is well fed, kept warm, and cannot hear his cries for her. I do not want her to fear for her life and go running, which means tell Jimmy to stay the hell away from her."

"Yes, right away," the other voice scrambled to say, and hear the running retreating footsteps. I was not sure if the woman was still there, until I felt her presence at my side. She did not say anything, just seemed to be, well, watching me sleep. She murmured something, and I swear I thought she was going to touch me or something.

But she didn't, and when I was sure I was in no danger I could hold out no longer.

The darkness was nice.


	15. Bittersweet Dark Chocolate

**Kay, I know the last chapter was rather boring, but it was a stepping point, just had to get it out of the way.**

**This one I will try to make more interesting, pwomise.**

**And thanks to StarCharmer for reviewing, was nice to see someone was still reading lol.**

**Kalin's POV**

No, no, they couldn't take her! Yet they had, they had taken her from her home, from her school, from her family, and now, they had taken her from my sight.

My heart ached, wanting her, needing her, but I was also wondering how long I had been under the madness. This was a new experience, to be able to actually be sane with Becca within my sight.

But dear Gods did I miss her. My throat was raw from yelling at my captures to bring her back to me, until Jimmy so gladly did.

I was so eager for a sight of her, I never thought about how all of this was affecting her. About how she would see me figuring out I needed to drink her blood. About how I roared for her, needed her with such a deep passion that she could not see it as that.

But I was under no fantasy when they pushed her into my room with me.

She pressed herself against the closed doors, tears and fear flickering in her eyes. That alone cut my to the core, to be looked at in her eyes like a monster. I wanted to touch her, to sooth her, but when I opened my mouth to say something, her eyes flew to my mouth, where I had forgotten my fangs were sharp and prominent with need.

She gasped, the tears spilling over, and she slid down the door, onto the cold floor, her body visibly quaking.

"Oh Becca, baby, no, please, do not fear me." how could I take back what I had done?

"They say you need my blood in order to become sane." her voice was barley there, but I caught it, all of senses sharpened, in hunting mode. Part of me wanted to be free and relished her running from me, to track her down, to hunt her like she was my prey, and then take my prize, her body, with my own.

But the sane part of me, the human part of me, the part my mother had given to me, hurt at that need to flee in her.

"Yes, I do." I could not lie to her, could not even think of it. She was meant to spend the rest of her days with me, how could I lie to someone I was going to love and cherish for the rest of eternity?

"I don't understand, why mine? Can't vampires just get blood from anyone?" someone her words managed to come out strong and steady, but the increased shaking betrayed her real emotions. A turbulent storm, my preciouse, strong mate.

"I am no regular vampire." simple answers were best right now.

"Do you want to kill me?" she whispered, a sob following the question, and I could feel the agony in my heart.

My face must have portrayed this, because she looked shocked, and a little wary.

"I could never hurt you, Becca. I just want to love you for eternity." honesty rang clear, and I hoped to god she heard it. It didn't matter, they would probably erase all I told her by brainwashing, but I had to try, had to tell her. "My species is special, and you are the most important thing in my existence. I would suffer through hell just to look at your face, Becca. I will never hurt you if I can help it."

There was a small silence between us, where I let my head hang, feeling all the emotions well up into my chest. Anger at them for doing this to her, fear of what she would honestly believe, anxious to get out of here and take her with me so I could show her how wonderful her life would be with me.

_Please, do not let them take away what we could have._

"No one has ever spoken to me like that before." there was a small catch in her voice, and I raised my head. Tears were still running down her cheeks, and I could still see fear in her eyes, but there was also that desperate longing I felt in my own breast.

"I keep wanting to be near you, to touch you, to ease your pain. I just don't know where my life falls anymore, I do not know what I am going to do anymore. I don't know what these people are talking about, or understand what they say. Why do you need my blood? What will it do?"

Not whole truth, half truth. Crap that was hard.

"Your blood will help me get us a better chance of getting out of here." but with her fear, she was not going to come near me with a ten foot pole, let alone put her wrist to my mouth.

_Or her throat_. That Thorian part of me whispered.

No, I would never betray such an honor.

"Becca," I said softly, till she met my eyes, her own dazed, and I could tell she was struggling so hard to keep a hold of her sanity. "There are people out there with amazing abilities. You being one of them. There are creatures out there that have evolved into beautiful things. I am just one of them species, who has yet to reach the peak of evolution. I need you to help me do this, Becca." I pleaded with her softly, leaning as hard as I could against my restraints. Madness battered against my mind, but I fought it, determined to see her through this, to give us a chance.

"What would I have to do?" she asked, so soft, no one but me would have heard it.

"I just need some of your blood, and then for you to take some of mine."

"But you already took some of mine!" she said, and then her face flushed, obviously remembering when and how.

"I know, but it has to be done in succession. I have to take your blood and then you have to take mine."

"Why?" she asked, trying to blink herself out of her dazed state. I honestly didn't know how much of this was getting through to her, but I had to keep trying.

But I gritted my teeth, because I couldn't answer her question. My enemies were putting this whole thing together, and them knowing that she also had to take my blood was a piece of information I know for a fact that did not have before. I could not give them the reason why, it was also too much that they knew we needed to make love to complete the second part of the bond.

And did they know I was slowly dying because the first part of the bond had not been upheld?

They probably thought me stupid not to take it when I had the chance.

But I would do anything for Becca, my Becca.

The only woman I would ever love.

"I can't tell you." I said in frustration, then tried again. "Becca, do this and when we get out I swear I will tell you anything you want to know, without a single lie between us. I will answer every question, and then I will even give you space if you should want it. I just need you to find a way to give me blood without them seeing it."

But I stopped when something I said made her give me a sad smile. It made my heart stutter, I missed her smile.

"I am sorry, Kalin." she whispered, tears begging to leak down her cheeks once more in earnest, a deep sorrow I did not understand. I frowned, gritting my teeth that I could not wipe them away. I had caused this woman misery these past few days, I would be lucky if she ever spoke to me when we got out of her, let alone sparred me a glance.

But she looked so much like the angel of sorrow, blond hair shining in the light from above, it draped over her shoulders and framing her perfect face. She wasn't on her knees, instead her legs were bent outward, her calves resting near her calves. Tears ran in an endless river from those beautiful eyes and down those flawless cheeks, slowly falling from the underside of her cheeks and hitting the concrete with small splats.

I was just about to ask her what she was sorry about, what did she want to say, whatever it was it was going to be okay, she had done nothing. But I heard her words just before the madness hit me again, this time taking me over the edge.

"But we don't have that kind of time."

(****)

Rebecca sat in her room, on the bed, her knees drawn to her chest, her mind endlessly going over everything that had happened in the past week.

She would wake every morning and then would be taken in for experiments. They drew blood, asked her questions, took her vitals, and such. The first morning they had done it, she had thrown a fit, kicking and thrashing, feeling like them taking her blood was some sort of betrayal, that they shouldn't have it no matter what.

She had been more cooperative when a females hands had held her down with such strength not only did she have bruises but she was clued in that these guys were anything but human themselves.

So who to trust, them, or Kalin?

And she kept catching parts of their conversations, and the more and more she heard the more and more confused she became. She felt like she was losing her sanity, to just sit here and stare at the walls and think about everything. That was all she had been doing.

And after her conversation with Kalin three days again, she had known she would side with, always would.

Especially since earlier that day, she had been overheard a conversation that had made her jolt.

"Would you like to move along in her experiments, ma'am?" one of the female scientists she had yet to meet was asking that strange woman that she had yet to see and yet felt so familiar to her. The voice would cause an odd tickling of knowing, but it was different somehow, changed, and she still hadn't put her finger on it.

"Yes, but do not inject her with anything as of yet. I have plans to check her breeding capability before we dismiss her as a failure with the others."

"From our studies, we have gathered that she had a little to no chance of falling into a coma as the last one did."

"That is good, but we need to have her have a child so we can study her body and learn what causes the body to shut down after the baby is born that limits them from having more children. And we also be able to find the gene that is introduced that only allows the birth of male children."

"Would you like us to do the insemination by the end of the week, ma'am?"

"Yes, Kalin will be too weak to fight then, so we will be able to gather from him what we need."

Rebecca had stopped listening after that, her heart pounding in her chest. Have a child, with Kalin? The idea in itself was somehow right, but not here, and not now. She would be damned if she let them take her child and experiment on her and Kalin.

But she had also made a decision about Kalin.

She had almost loved him, so close she could almost taste it on her tongue.

But she did not know if she could ever face him after everything that had happened here.

But Rebecca had a plan.

With that thought in mind, she raised her head, her face dry for the first time in a long time, her eyes clear and her mind sharp.

Because even though they were drawing blood from her daily, she was already again at her limit. Which made her put two pieces together. She would continue to produce as much blood as Kalin needed, and why that was she didn't know.

And right now, he needed a lot if he was going to get them out of here.

She went to move, stifling a moan of pain. Already her skin was too tight, her joints protesting at the odd pressure, her organs in pain. Philip had told her what would happen if she fell victum to a blood overdose. Her entire body was eventually lock up from the pressure, and then she would bleed out from her nose and mouth, but her jaw would be locked so she would slowly begin to choke on her own blood and die of suffocation. She would be lucky to die before her eyeballs popped and god knew what else would happen to her body.

Earlier in the day, she had stolen something that she knew she could stick in the door lock to keep it from closing. From Jimmy taking her down to see Kalin, she knew the way now, though she had barley been lucid enough to remember it at the time.

But now her and his life depended on it.

And the life of a child.

She moved towards the door as fast as she could, opening it with silent ease and making her way down the path she had gone over so many times now it was engrained in her memory. But for all the times she had been taken out of her room, she still had not figured out where they were. It looked like a military base, one you would see on something like Stargate SG1 or something.

A sudden blast of pain made her gasp, and she had to stop, supporting herself on the wall, hoping she wasn't too late. In order to slow her quickening heart, she began thinking of the dreams she had begun having of Kalin and that strange woman she had seen. The woman kept telling her she was late, and she needed to hurry up, and then hit Kalin on the head and scold him for being late as well. The dream was reoccurring and was confusing the hell out of her.

It did the trick, her heart slowed and the pain ebbed, and she was able to move again.

When she made it to the room where Kalin was held, she pulled out the key she had swiped from Jimmy. She had acted like she was giving him a shove to the chest, but she had really been sliding her hand into his pants pocket to steal the key.

Damn prick though she was coming onto him.

"Kalin, wake up." she said loudly when she came into the room, finding him drooped in his restraints. He did wake from her voice, though he did stir, murmuring her name. And she was suddenly worried they may have drugged him.

She cried out as another wave of pain came over her, and she knew she was out of time, she had none to waste.

She grabbed his thick hair in her right hand and yanked her head up, shoving her wrist against his mouth.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit, Kalin! Your supposed to be hungry!" her heart was pounding just being this close to him, and not just from fear from what she was doing. But he was supposed to make this easy on her.

She pressed her wrist harder against his teeth, and gasped when she felt the edge of his fang prick her wrist.

And before she could even react, everything happened at once.

His eyes snapped open, and she almost jerked away. His eyes were pure predatory and madness.

And with a snarl her latch onto her wrist.

But dear god did it _hurt_! But she forced herself to still, waiting until he took his first swallow, and then she set her plan into action.

She yanked her wrist away from him.

Hard.

It had the affect she was looking for. Skin tore, so did muscle, and blood began pouring over her hand. She quickly backed away from him, holding her hand out, wrist up, like a tempting offering. She had seen something similar in an episode of Angel, when they had gone into a different dimension, one where angel could walk into the sun. But when his vampire side had come out, Fred had been there, a stone in a moving river, her hand dipped in a bag of blood, to draw the monster away.

But unlike Fred, she was fucking terrified!

Kalin was snarling and growling, but his eyes seemed dazed, confirming her suspicions that he had indeed been drugged.

So she flicked her hand, sending blood droplets flitting across his face.

He froze, looking stunned, his brows coming together even as his tongue flicked out to taste her blood. He growled, sniffing the air deep, eyes set on her, pure animal intent. He struggled, then paused, looking at one shackled wrist, then another.

Then he simply snapped them.

_Snapped _them. Like they had been nothing more than cardboard.

And he lept on her, taking them both to floor.

Even as her body sung in happiness, her mind flung fear at her.

Until she head him speaking to her.

"Baby, oh baby, baby, what did you do to your self. Oh Becca, my Becca." his mouth closed over the wound, licking and suckling, stemming the bleeding, and somehow, killing the pain and giving her pleasure through the madness. She mindlessly twisted against him, tears running down her face as the pain in her body eased, even feeling light and blissful. She was so happy to have him free, so happy to touch him.

Even though she knew she could not overcome her fear easily.

Which is why she was going to leave him.

But that thought was drowned out when he lifted his head, and she became choked up at the pure love and devotion in his eyes. He began murmuring to her, kissing away her tears, stroking her body, making sure she was alright. And through her fear battered brain, she began whispering back, nuzzling him, touching him. Two reunited lovers hidden in the darkness.

"Take what only I can give you," he whispered softly, and kissed her. She thought she would taste blood, but she didn't. Instead, he taste like love, like dark chocolate, so bittersweet. Too bittersweet, it scared her, and everything in her was going to make her flee.

But the kissed grew insistent, and her breath began to quicken, and tears of happiness began to ebb. And the more and more she felt him, the more carnal she felt, her relief so stark it was maddening.

She felt him bite his tongue, tasted a sweetly salty taste, and sucked it down greedily through their unbroken passionate kiss.

But suddenly an aggressive growl arose from his chest.

The door opened and a flashlight shone in, illumination Kalin's face as he crouched over over her, everything in him possessive and protective.

Her sweet Kalin.

He launched himself at the intruder, whoever it was, leaving her alone in the room.

She lay there, trying to gather herself.

Until through the carnage outside, she heard an odd noise. Like paper against the floor.

Lifting her head, she found a piece of paper lying on the floor, having been slid under the door. From the light coming under the door, she could clearly read it.

_To the left, three doors down, it is the way out._

She didn't ask questions.

She ran.

Her sweet Kalin.

Hers no longer.


	16. Dream Sweet

**Am I losing my edge? Seems fewer people are reviewing, but here is a thanks to those who did.**

**Lynn8920 – haha ^_^ thank you! Please keep reading and reviewing.**

**Sparkles31199- your b-day is march 11? then I will post up a special b day chapter for you, and I will make sure it is worth the wait! How old will you be! I am turning twenty, though I don't feel it. And yeah, a fiance of six years this august. Scary stuff!**

**SeleneD- Between Becca and Kalin? )so glad to see the nick name sticks lol) um well, to sum up, murder, mayhem, forgivness, fear, and of course, betrayal. Not in the that order at all. Gotta keep you guessing. Oh, and secrets. Lots of secrets.**

**Wholegrainmustard – YAY your back! Btw, where are you if not in america? And of course Kalin must see her as the like the goddess of everything.**

**Saela – am I? Feel like I am loosing my touch latley. Or am I too pushy with the sexual tension Y_Y**

**IamEcho – I love you. We are such nerds.**

**Aguamalon- Um I am not sure if that is a compliment or not :/ not sure if you were saying you thought my story sucked at first but now it rocks or uhh well I dunno * is confused***

**Kalin's POV**

I came back to the room they had kept me in, the very room where a few hours before I had taken in Becca's blood and kissed her with all of the passion and love I felt inside of me. I had felt the answering emotion, and it had invoked the strong need to protect what was mine.

I caught sight of myself in a mirror they had hung up on the wall, as if to attempt to make this place feel like home or something. My chest had red welts all over it, wounds that had healed up almost immediately thanks to the fiery blood Becca had given me.

Thinking of her made my already racy heart beat harder, and I rushed down the now empty halls, eager to get to her. She must be scared, she didn't understand the war that had been going on between my kind and there for over a thousand years. I could only hope they hadn't hurt her while she was here, and if they had I would do worse to them than remove a few limbs for the fuckers like I had tonight.

They did not want to mess with a king who would do anything for the bride fate had given him.

But what about the wound on her wrist? I had stemmed the bleeding with my siliva, but what if it began to bleed again? What if she had passed out on the floor from blood loss and was cold and alone?

I ran faster, my body already straining past its limits in its desperation.

I broke the door in my haste, looking around the dimly lit room, and froze in shock as my mind registered what it was seeing.

She was not in the room.

I roared, from anger, from loss, from having my hopes crushed. But also from fear. What if they had taken her while I was gone? They had already taken my seed earlier today, as well as my blood. They could easily impregnate her now that our bonding was complete, the only thing that would have prevented her from getting pregnant otherwise.

Oh god, I had so much to tell her, I could not afford to have them take her again.

I breathed deeply, catching the sent of her blood, noting there was a few drops on the ground.

Fuck, her wound had began bleeding again.

But when I followed them and found blood on the door leading to the outside, I realized that my female had run from me on her own accord.

Why?

I only had to breath deeper to know the answer.

Fear.

And regret.

My female was afraid of me, had every right to be, I had turned her life to hell in such a short time.

I just had to catch her before she got to far. I could never let her go.

The Thorian in me relished the hunt, roared in satisfaction, in pleasure at being able to have my own sanity, to think about her, to be able to take my time tracking her down.

With grim determination, the Thorian and man in me divided in how it felt about the situation, I set to the task of hunting down the one woman who had saved me from eternity in darkness.

It had only taken three hundred years to find her.

**Rebecca's POV**

When I stumbled out the bunker, I realized two things at once.

First, I knew where I was, which was a relief.

And two, I had been underground this whole week.

And now I was free.

Weary from blood loss and pain, I swayed on my feet, hearing Kalin's roars of battle cut short as the door shut behind me, giving me only silence.

I was in the middle of the woods not far from the school, the same woods that I had walked so many times I had made a worn path. But school was not me destination, the hospital was, and I knew Philip would be there waiting for me to show up, worrying. I knew he would take care of me, protect me, I just had to get there, just had to make the trip.

Which was easier said than done.

My wound had begun to slowly trickle blood again, as if trying to call to Kalin again to take it in a rush of pleasure and pain that almost made me feel like an addict.

Worst of all? I wanted him too. Having him feed from me felt right, and now that I knew my blood multiplied for him, I knew why it felt right. But if I stayed away from him, maybe my blood would go back to just multiplying at a slower rate. I had linked Kalin's arrival to the time when my blood had begun to go out of control, wanting to nourish him and give him what he needed.

Too bad my mind was now white washed with fear of him, to the point where I think it lingered in every crevice of my brain. The man, I did not fear, but the animal-istic need him was strong, and terrifying.

And that seemed to be the part that craved me the most.

My feet would only move at a slow pace, my body soft and relaxed, like the time after Kalin had made love to me.

No, had had sex with me, just sex, nothing more.

_He kissed you with the passion of love, with the taste of bitter sweet chocolate and salty sweet blood. The look of horror as he saw what he had done to your wrist in his eagerness to take your blood, not understanding you did it to lure him forward. His voice, so rich and deep with love and devotion, sounding like you were the most beautiful thing in existence._

Shut up brain!

Tears actually began welling in her my eyes, and my heart felt like it were being taken from my chest with every step that I took. While my mind was telling me this was the best thing that I could do, my heart wanted me to go back.

And I felt like I was killing the most important part of me as I turned my back on the man that was risking his life to protect me.

And little did he know it, but also protect the child they had almost forced me to have.

The child that, since I was walking away from him, would not never come to be.

I barley made it to the hospital. In the dark I felt like I had lost my way more than once, but my feet just kept on taking me in on steady direction, as if they were determined to prove they knew what the rest of me did not.

I almost passed out from relief when I saw the hospital in the distance, the lights so bright that it was like a beacon, calling to me. My bare feet were blistered and bleeding, I had stepped on so many things and tripped so many times I barley noticed anymore. But I think I was bordering on death with how much blood I was losing, my toes bleeding like a steady stream.

I didn't want to draw attention to myself, so I went around back, to the back emergency exit, and sure enough, Philip had disabled the lock on the door so just in case I showed up I could come straight to him.

Oh, thank god for Philip.

I paused when I was inside the door though, more to gather myself for the long climb of stairs I had, but also to calm my crying, which had steadily increased to sobbing as my journey had taken place. It had taken me a good two hours to get here, where as it usually only took thirty minuets normally. At least Philip would not think my crying odd, after all, getting kidnapped and all that was probably a reason to cry.

Finally, I did make my way all the way up the stairs, after reactivation the lock on the door, not wanting Kalin to have easy access should he follow me, and I knew he would. It took me a lot of rests, but eventually I had to make it all in one go, I could feel darkness edging in, even as my tight hold on my wrist was not stopping the slow bleeding.

I was desperate by the time I made it to his office door, not caring of the cameras, since the security guards would not get to me before I go to Philip, and that was if they were even paying attention.

But even desperation did not stop me from pausing outside his office door when I heard a females voice from coming inside.

"Philip, you have done all you can, she will show up, you know she will, I have everyone out looking for her, and you have the cops out looking for her."

"This should not have happened! I told her to stay away from that boy, I told her over and over again." Philip sounded so hopeless, I moved a little closer, peering through the crack.

It was that female I saw before!

She was here to see Philip?

Confusion surged my brain deprived brain. Philip had told me his wife died a long time ago, was he finally getting back into the saddle? I studied this female more closely, noting how beautiful she was. Her hair was a rich honey blond color, her eyes that deep emerald green, her face well rounding, her eyes setting it off perfectly. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her frame was that of a fully grown woman, curvy and welcoming to a man. She had long legs, I could tell, since she was sitting on Philips desk, swinging her legs back and fourth while he paced.

But then I messed it all up. I stumbled, hitting the door, and coming in. There was a sudden pause where they both looked at me in pure shock, before Philip was on me.

"Oh my god, Rebecca!" he yelled, crushed me to him, so hard it was hard to breath but I was not going to say a word. I was shaking so hard I did not even think I could stand on my own, and I needed his comfort so damn badly. I put my arms on his shoulders, letting them fall loosely over his shoulders, not even caring if I blacked out at this single moment.

Nothing mattered to me now, not Kalin, not this strange female, not those strange beings that had taken me. Not Kalin's cryptic answers or dodged questions, or all the answers I still did not have. All that mattered is that he was warmer than me with my blood loss, and he was strong and smelled and felt so familiar.

But then I felt a touch to me hand.

My hands snapped open, to find that female touching my hand with the still bleeding wrist, pure horror and sadness in her eyes. Her hand were small and perfect, looking as soft as the rest of her skin did, but he finger nails looked like they were slightly curved, almost like they were claws.

"Rebecca, where have you been, I have the cops looking everywhere for you, I was so worried, I am so glad you managed to get here . . ." but I was barley registering.

Her eyes, so similar than Kalin's, bringing him to mind, bringing tears to my eyes and my heart and my mind fought their war. This female lifted her gaze, meeting mine, lowering her hand.

She looked . . .

Ashamed.

"Philip . . ." I tried to whisper, but then blackness took me.

I dreamed of Kalin.

I dreamed of opening my eyes, my body at ease from the pain killers in my system, the machinery beeping softly in the back ground. He was standing beside my bed, tears running down his face, getting caught by the moonlight that came in through the window, setting them alight as if he were crying nothing but pure moonshine. He looked like a broken fall angel, and I wanted nothing more than to take him into my arms and ease this pain.

And in my dreams, I could have him right?

"Kalin," I murmured, just enjoying the simple fact of feeling his name on my tongue. I knew, in the morning, when I awoke, this would hurt, that I should not let myself dream of him like this, when I could never have it.

I was not worthy of the love he wanted so desperately to give me. I could giver him everything else I had, my blood, my body, but I could never give him a heart I did not have, I never deserved one enough to make a real one. But with him I felt like I had one, and it beat just for him.

I was scared.

But here in my dreams, I felt no fear, no pain, just the aching need for him.

"Kalin," I whispered again, lifting my arms up for him, and he came into them, as if it would kill him to deny it. There was such agony in his gaze, such pain, and I could not allow that. This was my dream, and if it was going to hurt, I was going to make sure I made him happy.

"Why did you run from me, my love," he whispered in my ear as he lay beside me, the tears falling onto my face as he propped himself above me, falling along my cheeks as if they were my own, and then to my lips, so I could taste his pain. It made my heart ache.

"Kalin, will you kiss me?" I asked in a soft, dreamy voice, lifting my face as much as I could, gently kissing his throat, his chin. But he lay tense beside me, his tears still falling.

"How can you ask me to kiss you when I have done this to you?" he demanded, tilting his head down to meet my eyes.

_So green _. . .

"You didn't, when you went to drink from me I tore my wrist." I explained blearily.

"Why? Was it so horrible, the thought of me taking your blood?"

"No," I slurred, sighing as I shifting, feeling his body. I wanted to memorize it. My Kalin.

"Then why, please, love, tell me, before I tear my heart out from my chest."

"Fine," I huffed. "But then you have to kiss me. 'Kay? I did it so that you would break free." I lifted my face expectantly, but he stared at me in shock.

"You did that, so that I would be able to get free?" 

"Yep, and so no more madness."

"Why?"

I couldn't answer that.

_It was the only thing I could give you when I left you behind._

No, I would be happy in this dream.

"Kiss." I insisted. And finally, he obeyed me, lowering his head to kiss me, to scorch me with passion and love, and to make me sigh with longing. If only this were real.

But even as he kissed me and touched me, arousal did not come to my body.

"I wish this weren't a dream," I murmured sleepily, breaking away from our kiss, leaning into him, feeling more pain killers hit my system, and damn him, I think there was a sleeping medication in there too. I wanted to dream like this a little while longer, but I could not move my body any longer, could not even seem to speak what I wanted to speak.

"Baby, this is real." he whispered, stroking my hair, kissing my head. But I didn't believe him, dreams always told you what you wanted to hear when you loved them as much as I did this one.

"Kalin?" I asked, fighting the thick pull of deep sleep.

"Yes?"

"Don't visit my dreams anymore," I barley got out in a murmur, before sleep choked out the last of this beautiful dream.


	17. Family Ties

**No Name – Ha XD I wish, but thank you.**

**StarCharmer – Yeah she left him *sigh * it is killing me too lol.**

** – XD excellent review with the ! Def. Got my attention, lol.**

**Iamecho – I am sorry luv, it is grating on my nerves as well, and unfortunately, they have some road to cover.**

**Sparkles31199 – me XD? I would be the worst stalker in all the world. I would be the one to hide behind the lamp pole and go * psst, Sparkles, don't look behind you, I am not here, not following you, I am just …. everywhere you are!" and your 12? turning 13? I wish I were that young again, feel so old* sigh***

**ThisIsNotALoveSong – tention? I am gonna guess tension, but I wouldn't exactly say tension, cept if you mean the sexual kind, haha.**

**Tsuki916 – Of course Kalin wont listen, hes a stubborn git, and plus if he did, I think my readers would leave me XD the love Kalin more than they love me.**

**Wholegrainmustard – Asia? Hell, wish I could travel again, been to lots of places, but never Asia, what is it like? And yeah I know, I have to make them run in squares for awhile, lol. And I am glad you are back, otherwise you would miss this chapter, which has something that will make you smile!**

**Aquamalon – didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you, I do enjoy honest criticism. And what is your first language? **

**Kalin's POV**

A dream?

She thought me nothing more than a good dream?

Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

I couldn't seem to make up my mind as I just lay there with her, cuddling her to my chest while she fell into a deep medicated sleep. It wasn't hard to track her down, with the smell of her blood laying out the whole trail for me to follow, and the man in me was glad that to find her safe and sound.

But still my heart ached to think that she ran from _me_. The wrist had been an intentional thing, but it was obvious that it still had scarred her, no matter how much she had planned it out before hand.

But still, my bride had cared enough to try and free me, instead of just getting out herself, which she was smart enough to do without any help. No one had ever escaped from their stronghold, and yet this human woman had done it without a single problem.

My bride.

I was so proud, it welled up in my chest and it seemed like there was not enough space in there for everything I felt for her.

Gods I wanted this female.

Why could she not want me too?

She wanted my kiss, my touch.

But why not just me?

How long could I keep a distance from her? Would it even help? Would she eventually get used to the idea that no matter how much she wanted me to turn around and leave, I could not more do that than take my own heart from my breast and live?

She stirred against my chest, muttering my name, and it sent my heart hammer again, just from the thought of her dreaming about me again. She had thought I was a dream because her body was so heavily drugged and blood deprived that it could not muster up arousal.

My silly mortal.

My lovely bride.

I tilted her head up slightly, and leaned in to kiss her again, feeling her lips move against my own, even in the drug induced sleep. I would have to leave her, I didn't want anyone walking in to see me holding her. And I did not want to lead my enemies here either. I would keep them away from her, even if it killed me.

As I gently laid her down in a more comfortable position on the bed, tears began to leek from the corners of her eyes.

"Ah, babe, why?" I gasped softly, gently trying to rub them away, but more just replaced them, and an emotion like tenderness and sadness swept over me.

"I will give you a happy life." I swore softly, stealing one more kiss.

And I may just have to die to accomplish it.

**Rebecca's POV**

I woke, feeling like hell.

The second thing I noticed? I had tears running down my cheeks, even as I remembered my dream and my heart went into a painful spasm.

Dammit! He could not claim my heart!

"Sleep well?" a female voice asked, and I jerked up in bed, so fast it actually made me dizzy. I was no longer hooked up to the machines, and I did feel better than before. I could feel a slight burn on my wrist, which mean Philip has stitched it up and cleaned it.

There! She was sitting on another bed across from mine, one leg bent on the bed, the other hanging off, and she was leaning back against the wall, watching me. Those green eyes unnerved me as they watched me with what seemed to be shame, happiness, and interest.

"Who are you?" I asked in a clear voice, but it was obvious I was bristling.

"My name is Fortis. I know, not a very female kind of name, but my father gave it to me." she pronounced it with an accent, and it sparked my curiosity.

"What does it mean?" I asked, despite myself.

"Its Latin, I think it means strong. My father wanted me to grow up to be a strong person, to hold my own." she smiled, shaking her head as she stood. "But it would seem that the name was wasted on me, and he should just have given it to Kalin."

For a second shock seared right through me, and as I watched her move, it struck me out of the blue.  
"You are a Thorian!" I yelled, looking towards the closed door of the room, wondering how long and loud I would have to scream before someone came running. Pressing the button for the nurse was useless, since my bed didn't have one. When I looked back at her, she had stopped walking, looking at me with a raised eye brow.

"Are you really going to start yelling bloody murder?" she questioned in an amused voice.

"Ah! You can read me mind!"

"No," she said, with a restrained laughter. "I can tell by your face." she could not stop a chuckle, but she turned her face away, pressing a hand to her mouth.

"How do you know Kalin?" I demanded, not liking that she was finding me funny. Lets see her answer my questions.

"Didn't I just say so?" she looked at me like it was supposed to be obvious, but nothing was clicking. "Kalin is my brother. Younger, actually, but a couple hundred years, but hey, whos counting?"

"Couple . . . hundred?" I gasped out, feeling the blood run from my face.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern, coming over to sit at the edge of my bed, watching me with hawk eyes, waiting for me to gain my composure.

"I didn't know he had a sister." I managed to get out. _Not to mention I thought he was just in his twenties. God, what a slap to the face. That cradle robber._

"Yeah, he hasn't seen me in a long time, with the madness consuming him and all. But anyway, I have a question. And I need you to answer me honestly." she had lost all of her playful demeanor, and it was actually kind wigging me out. Especially since she was just sitting there, staring at me, as if daring me to say no.

"I will try." I said hesitantly, worried about what she would ask.

"Did you leave me brother with the Grits?"

Okay, whaaaat?

"Uh, the what?"

"The Grits? Oh, hell, I don't know what they are really called, I mean, they used to be Thorians, but now since they worship another goddess they aren't, but they are. And it is not like they picked out a club name or something."

"Oh! You mean those people that kidnapped me and Kalin!" I shook my head, unconsciously touching my wrist. "No, he got out, I hope. I released him after giving him my blood. It seemed to help."

"Well of course it did, your his bride." she said with a smile, but she pursed her lips when I gave her a blank look. Then panic filled her gaze.

"Oh, god, please tell me my brother filled you in!" she waited a heartbeat, then shook her head with a horrified expression. "He took your blood and your body without telling you anything? I will flog him senseless, I taught him to be better to woman!" she threw me a quick smile. "Not that I am not grateful or anything, I mean, without you he would still be a prey to the madness."

"But why? Why was he suffering from madness? Why did he need my blood? Why can he invoke things in me no one else can? Why can I not seem to stay away from him?"

"Are you sure you want these answers? They are long and grueling, and you may end up with more questions than answer. Not to mention it is supposed to be your males job to explain all of this, but from the look in your eyes, I can tell her fucked up majorly." she sighed, gently reaching out to touch the wrist that was tore.

"I am sorry he did this too you." she said in a softer voice, sorrow covering her beautiful features.

"I did it to myself. It was the only way." I shrugged, as if it hadn't affected me.

"I will give you your answers, Rebecca." she said, pulling back and forcing a smile. "But I cannot do it before I make you promise that you will not judge my brother by anything I tell you until you two get to talk in person."

"Agreed." I said immediately, because I knew I was never going to see Kalin again anyway. After this I was going to find a way to run, and I knew I could count on Philip to help me.

"Well, okay then. The cops have come and gone, and Philip is finally asleep in his office, so we should not be getting any unexpected visitors. No one is expecting you to wake up for another day or so."

"How long have I been out?" I asked in surprise at the knowledge.

"Around two days or so. But anyways, hmmmm, where to start." she pursed her lips, perfectly shaped, full, and shell pink. Her green eyes deep in thought.

"Ah! I know! We will start at the beginning! Of course!" she laughed, and for once, I wished I could join her.

But with the topic we were on I could not even seem to muster a smile.

Especially when I had just realized that the front of my hospital gown smelled of Kalin.

**See what I can do when people review ^_^ I can update sooner!**


	18. And So There Was Love    And A Tulip

**Happy twelfth birthday Sparkles! Here is the chapter I promised you for your birthday! I will try to post up two, but for now, here is the only one I can promise you! Song today? Save the last dance for me, by Michael Buble. Good song! Makes me wanna dance T_T**

**Kalin's POV**

I leaned over, hands on my knees, panting hard, trying to catch my breath, my heart beating fast and my blood singing in my veins.

Not just my blood now. Hers too; my precious Becca.

Finally able to breath normally, I stood at my full towering height. I had barley managed to make it out the damn window when my own sister had come down the hall. What had she been doing there? I didn't know, but it had been over a hundred years since I had seen her. Since the madness had over taken me.

I owed my sister a great debt, so allowing her some time with Becca was the least I could do. Who knew, maybe they would get on, since they both had something in common.

After all, my sister was the one who had set me lose when the madness had over taken me.

"The beginning?" Rebecca asked in a skeptical tone. Did she really want to hear this? To finally understand everything about Kalin?

"Well yeah, I mean, otherwise there would be huge gaps in the story and all that, ya know? But hey, I can't tell you EVERYTHING!"

"Wha? Why not?" Rebecca found herself whining, feeling like a child who had just been shown the best toy in the world, just to be given a piece.

"Well, that is still Kalin's job. I can only tell you some things, like our origin, and stuff like that. But I will have to leave the really personal stuff to him."

"So, can you at least tell me why my blood is so important to him?"

"Uh, well, somewhat." she dodged, and Rebecca sighed, giving up in her pursuit. If she was going to get at least some information, at least that was good, right?

"Now, let me see, the beginning, the beginning. Ah! Once upon a time, there was a goddess! Oh," her face scrunched up. "No, no, that doesn't sound quite. Um, well, it all started with a goddess, maybe that is the way to start this. It sounds better at least."

"What was her name?"

"Uh, well we don't know, because, well, she isn't our goddess. Well, crap! Just listen, kay? I am really bad at story telling!" she took in a deep breath, tilting her head back. "So you see, this goddess was the embodiment of everything that was good and bad in nature itself. From death and destruction, to birth and growth."

"So she wasn't good or evil?" Rebecca supplied, and Fortis lifted her head to flash her a smile in thanks.

"No, she wasn't. She was what humans are meant to be, a balance between the two, even though humans always seem to lean one way or the other most times. Ah! But anyways! She watched over nature itself for a long time, until, of course, she fell in love."  
"Of course, stories always lean that way. But please don't tell me she fell in love with a tree." Rebecca snorted, even as Fortis gave her a scowl, even as she seemed like she wanted to laugh.

"No, now stop ruining my oh so wonderful story!" she took in another deep breath, as if she were trying to pick up where she had left off.

"She fell in love?" she supplied, and Fortis picked up where she had left off.

"She fell in love with a mortal who had seen everything that nature had to offer. All he had known his whole life was nothing but the forest, and he, too, was the perfect balance of everything good and bad. He had seen death and destruction, and he accepted it, even killing at times himself, whether for mercy or not, but at the same time he always knew there would be birth and growth, and even helped it along as much as he could.

"She was captivated by him, but she could not touch him, for while he lived, he was not something that she could touch. He was not part of nature while he lived his life, at least, not the nature of the forest. She she continued to watch him, and the more and more that she watched him, the more and more she loved him.

"And eventually, even this mortal, who should not be able to feel her presence, began to know she was there. When she hovered just near him, he would turn his head, and she felt as if at times he were looking just at her. Eventually, he even began to place things just at her feet, smiling up at her, though she knew it was impossible for him to see her. She wanted so badly to touch his face, so young, so handsome, or to even take the gifts that he left for her, something that she could hold and make her feel close to him.

"Eventually, the years continued to pass, and the man left more and more gifts for her, and the loneliness in her heart began to grow, and consume her. She would weep, standing at his side, looking up at his face that was now wearing with age, pure moonlight pouring down her cheeks and to the ground. And where they touched the ground, these beautiful white tulips sprung from the ground, and when water would gather in them from the rain and the moon shone on them, the water would contain the power of moonlight itself, said to give immortality. But that was found out later.

"The man smiled at those flowers, reaching up to touch the place where her face was, as if he knew her loneliness. But his hand passed through her face, and it made her heart weep."

"Was there nothing she could do?" Rebecca asked desperately, clutching the blankets, her heart squeezing with understanding for this woman. She wanted something she could not have, just like Rebecca herself.

"No," Fortis whispered, her voice also sad. What was she thinking of with that expression? Surley, since she was not consumed with madness, she had someone?

"You see, human nature is different that natural nature. Human nature is volatile, constantly changing with little things, where as natural nature does not change that much, if at all. At with his growing love for her as well, he was changing even more and putting him out of her reach."

"How. . . how could they be together?" surely they got too, right?

"They didn't, until the day he lay dying, from being attacked by a criminal who was fleeing in the woods. He just attacked him on site, and drove his knife deep into his gut, leaving him there to die."

"I don't understand, how is it dying allowed them to be together?"

"Dying is natural. No matter how you do it. She was able to touch him then, as use her magic to bring him back."

"But wouldn't that put them back where they had started?" Rebecca asked, imagining how they had felt. She imagined that the goddess looked a lot like Fortis did. With hair that would shine in the moonlight, looking almost platinum blond. Eyes large and beautiful, but a lighter green, like the color of the fresh vegetation of spring. What would they feel, when she leaned over to touch his face for the first time in years? Being able to look him in the eyes, feel him, lean down to kiss him for the first time?

"No," Fortis said, snapping her out of her thought process, blushing, as if she were broadcasting them aloud. "For you see, now he was a part of her being, sharing her life force. We don't know how she did it, but she managed, even though it went against everything she stood for."

"What happened then?" she asked in desperation, wanting to know if this story had a happy ending. But wait, hadn't Fortis said this wasn't their goddess?

"They laid together for the first time. She fell asleep in the arms of the person she had loved for years, but when she awoke, he was gone."

"Just gone? What to you mean?"

"When she awoke, it was because she felt his life end. You see, since he was tied to her, he felt that by bringing him back it was eating at her essence, her being. It was killing her, because she was trying as hard as she could to sustain a magic that she was not able to possess for a long period of time. He had gotten up in the night while she slept, went off somewhere, and killed himself."

Rebecca gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. He had done that? To protect the woman he had loved, a woman he had only coupled with for one night? God, for such love to exist.

"Don't worry," Fortis said softly, reaching over to pat her hand. "The story isn't over. She got pregnant from that one coupling. Her heart was broken, and she wept, even when she gave birth, to twins."

"Is there a significance in twins?"

"Well, yes, you see, god and goddesses are not meant to sleep with anyone other than other gods or goddesses. Because they can never produce twins, but human genes always pulled surprises. Not to mention now the powers and genes of the children were unknown. No one knew if they would be mortal or immortal, or if they would have their mothers balance."

"Did they?"

"Oh, no, they didn't. One of her daughters gained the love for nature and all that was good in it. While the other obtained the other side of it, enjoying the death and destruction of all things. You see, unlike her sister, she could even effect mortals, seeming to hold more human in her than he sister."

"Are you saying because she was more human, she was evil?" Rebecca tried to summon outrage, or even a twinge of anger, but none came.

"No, just because she was more human did not make her evil. But SHE began to develop her own powers, to stretch her limits beyond the ones she was supposed to have. That was when she became evil." and by her tone, Fortis did not know much more than that.

"What were there names?" she asked, having to know.

"Well, our goddess, the one who represents the good in nature, was named Thoris. I know, not a very feminine name, her mother sucked at names, just like mine did." she shrugged. "But I am afraid we do not know the name of the other sister."

"So the word Thorian makes sense now."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"So what happened from there?"

"Well, hmm, let me see. Oh, yeah, her daughter fell in love. Well, the good one did, anyway. Since she had human genes in her, she could interact with him, not having to suffer through what her mother did. And her mother was determined to see that her daughter did not have to lose him, as well. She went to the place where the last of the tulips grew. You see, it had been over a hundred years since she had lost her love and her children had been born, and most of them had died out. But there was still a few left, but only a single one had been full of water for long enough to offer up immortality."

"Wait! How could she have known that they would do that?"

"Oh, didn't I mention? A silly mortal had stumbled upon them and took it into his silly head to drink it. Honestly, who does that?"

"Where is he now?"

"Oh, dead. The Gods took care of him."

"Oh, wonderful." Rebecca glowered.

"Anyways, the flower worked, and her daughters husband became immortal. They had children, all of who carried the immortal gene, but, they could only give birth to male children, no matter how many they had. Not to mention they could not live in the same realm as their mother." Well, how she began to be worshiped also made sense.

"But what about the madness? What about the pairing?"

"Well, you see, half of the males began to take advantage of their immortality to do what they pleased. So our goddess stepped in, since the males also found out they could only have children with females with certain genes."

"Really? Genes of what kind?" but Fortis shrugged.

"Beats me, but I would guess the genes of our goddesses father, the same genes her husband probably carried."

"So she also simplified that?"

"Yeah, she made it so that they would be able to know the perfect female for them. But she could give nothing without a price. So for the males, the price is the madness, until the ritual is completed, bonded body and soul. And for the females? Well, they have to deal with not being immortal, and eventually dying."

"Well that's not fair!"

"No, it isn't, but it was all she could do, since the females aren't of her people until they are bounded, where as the males will always be followed by the bloodline. They can still only give birth to male children. But you see, half of her children did not want this, so they left her, and chose to worship her unmarried sister. And unfortunately, they were the best gene specialists they had. They cracked the gene that only allowed female children, but it is almost impossible for them to find a female or even harder to find a male who has the right genes. They envy us, for while our numbers grow, their do not. They devote themselves to their sciences, and yet it has done nothing for them."

"But, when do the males hit the madness stage? And how many children can a woman have in her lifetime?"

"Well, they all hit it at different ages. But there are signs. We lock them up and bring them females that show signs of being able to be bound. And well, only one, it is another restriction the goddess put on them."

"Signs?"

"Ah, yeah, you know, increased blood making whenever they are around some of our kind, even though only their bound male can feed from them."

"How did Kalin get out?"

Fortis flushed, looking away.

"Are those details oh so important?" then something struck Rebecca, and she paused, looking at Fortis as if she had seen a ghost.

"Hold on a second. You just said they can only give birth to male children."

"Uh, yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?" she said sheepishly, but Rebecca could tell she had automatically become nervous. She began slightly fidgeting where she sat, and Rebecca felt her heart begin to speed up.

"Then how are you and Kalin brother and sister?"

"Damn, you are sharp aren't you? My brother got lucky." she looked away, almost guiltily, taking in a deep breath.

"Well, you see, our father was odd. He had two mates, not just one. The first one was my mother, and the second was Kalin's mother. Cept, well, my mother kinda went into a coma after having me, and well, Kalin's mother . . . well she died." there was a heartbeat of pause before them, and then Rebecca spoke.

"Are you saying . . ."

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"Say it, I want to make sure you are not lying to me."

"Okay, fine." she turned her head to look her in the eye. "I am the only female Thorian to ever be born."


	19. Chasing A Song

**Thank you to all those who reviewed. Just to clarify. The twin they worship, is the good twin, and her sister, who's name is as of right now, unknown, was not evil until she began to develop other abilities and revel in death and disorder. Thank you. Please keep reading.**

**Rebecca's POV**

I shot up in my bed, the windows dark, the room dark, not a single light to show me if there was someone in the room with me. I was sweating heavily, my breathing and heart fast and rapid, and I swear gallons of apprehension and adrenalin were coursing through my blood stream in quantities that had to be hazardous to my health.

My head felt light, and through the haze in my brain I knew it was because of the IV in my arm, pumping sedatives and pain killers into my system, to keep me calm and sleeping.

Yeah, fuck that.

I wasn't careful in pulling it out, I just yanked sharply, tearing the skin slightly and making it bleed. But I wasted no time, swinging my legs around to try and stand, finding that the coldness of the floor helped me wake a little more. Good, I need to get moving, I had to chase it.

I stumbled slightly when I did stand, from disuse of my legs, no doubt. God only knew how long I had been under this time. Philip had come in and found me and Fortis talking, and he seemed slightly angry, if not worried. He had immediately shooed her away, and then upped my dose.

I was gonna smack him around the next time I saw him, I swear.

I stumbled through the door, using the wall as my support, making my way towards the stairs, breathing hard and fast, trying to shake the last of the sedative, to go faster. I had to go faster, needed to, this was not in question, I had to find the maker of that song, it could not leave me behind.

But when I passed Philip's office and heard voices, even the tug of the song could not keep me going. I stopped to listen.

"Why her?" Fortis demanded heatedly. "You have reported every single woman you have found to have the potential to be a mate to one of my men! Why now, when I suddenly find you to ask you why you stopped researching for us, I find you with my damn queen!"

"Fortis, please calm yourself." Philip sounded so tired, I felt my heart well with pity for him.

"Calm myself? Calm myself! Are you out of your fucking mind! And don't tell me you didn't know! You know from all of our data that the queens of our race always produce more blood than necessary from birth. It is not like you could have missed something like that."

"No! I didn't fucking miss something like that! But maybe I do not want Rebecca to end up as the last two queens did."

silence followed, and I found myself wondering, what happened to the last two queens? Fortis said her father had had two mates, so what happened to both of them?

"She wont end up like them, Philip! Come on, have more faith in my brother!"

"Don't. Just don't. I have no faith in your brother for he carries the bad luck of your family."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she said haughtily, demanding.

"He got captured by the goddamn enemy, god only knows what they took from him, what they could do with his genes. And he tore her fucking arm open!"

Never before had I heard Philip swear, never before had I heard him so heated, so angry, so passionate.

"She told me she tore her own arm, it was an attempt to get him out." Then there was a pregnant silence, before she finally spoke what she was thinking. "And what do you mean, what they could do with his genes?"

Yeah, I wanted to know what too.

"Nothing, just a speculation. And you should know I will not go back to genetic researching soon. Not for you."

"Your family has always served my family!"

"Yeah and look where it got us."

"Shes not your goddamn daughter!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, tears in her voice, and the anger gone. Then she stopped, sucking in a surprised breath and what she had said, and I could only imagine what Philip looked like. How could she say something like that to him, even after what he had done for me? "I am sorry, Philip. I am just upset and am taking it out on you. I miss my brother, it had been over a hundred years since I have seen him, and even now he seems to avoid me at every turn."

"No, it is fine. You are right, she isn't my daughter. But since I helped give birth to her, she will always be in my care."

Then the song became to much. It grew louder, and now the sedative had fully worn off. I began running down the hall, feeling my body was fully healed and felt wonderful. Running felt wonderful.

I ran down the stairs, my heart now beating from exhilaration rather than fear or adrenaline. I sprung out of the back door and into the night air that felt crisp and clean on my skin, even through the thin hospital gown I had on. I breathed in the air deeply, my body savoring it, my heart singing.

"Where are you!" I called out, looking around for the maker of that song, the song that had woke me up and haunted my dreams. That beautiful song that made my heart sigh and ache and made me want to get my hands on my violin to recreate it. But I think I would ruin it, for all I could produce was sorrow, and this song was pure beauty and harmony.

Then the song began to die.

"No!" I cried, spinning in circles, looking, desperately, needing to find the maker, needing to hear more of that song. "No! Where are you!" I was screaming now, taking steps in this direction and that, needing to find her, needing to hear more, it was like an addiction that had gotten into my blood stream, and I couldn't stop, I didn't want to stop.

The song continued to die down, a little at a time, slowly, as if it were taunting me with what I could not have. As if the answer were right in front of me and I just wasn't seeing it.

"Don't leave me!" I cried, crumbling to the ground, tears pouring down my face at the sorrow I felt, at the thought of it dying, of not hearing it ever again. It was a call for me, and I wanted to take it.

"Rebecca!" it was Philip's voice, punctuated by the sound of the back door slamming sharply on its hinges. I didn't care, I just didn't want to be left behind. Please, just don't leave me behind in this world of pain and sorrow.

Philip knelt beside me, gently touching my face, wiping away my tears, shushing me softly and he pulled me to him to comfort me. But he couldn't comfort me, there was a hole in my heart, and that song had brought pain and loneliness pouring into my heart. It reminded me of what I could not have.

"She can hear it, Philip." I heard Fortis softly whisper, but I no longer cared. I lifted my head, eyes teary and sight bleary, just so I could make out her form, standing a few feet behind Philip and I.

"Claire." I said softly, and I saw her posture stiffen, her eyes focusing more sharply on my face.

"What did you say?"

"Your goddesses sister? Her name is Claire. The epiphany of loneliness and death. She has taken lovers, but she killed them all." miserably, I tucked my face back into Philip's chest, not noticing his suddenly stiff posture.

"How do you know that, Rebecca?" Fortis asked, her breath barley above a whisper.

"I dreamed it. I dreamed of a woman with blond hair like the sun, and eyes as green as yours. She had a voice like the singing of the leaves when the wind passes through, and her face was beautiful, her expression kind. When she touched me, it felt like the warm spring sun, and when she gave me a kiss on the forehead as she bade me goodbye, I smelled the autumn wind on her, all pumpkins and spice. She was the true from of nature, and when you listen to the tremors of her voice, you can hear it. You can hear that song, that calling song. The song of nature."

"Philip . . ." Fortis began.

"Forget it."

**Kalin's POV**

I watched on with awe and jealousy at the scene that had unfolded before me. When she had began calling, I thought I had been for me. I thought she had finally wanted me, but when Philip and my sister had come out, everything had been explained in blatant and obvious terms, and it had left no room for my imagination.

She had not wanted me, she had heard the calling of our goddess.

My heart ached at the thought, even as my anger and ire rose. I wanted to speak to my sister, but I knew I couldn't. I could not face her, not until I knew I was going to be bringing Rebecca to our clan as my wife. I would not fail my sister, not after all she had been through and all the sacrifices she had made for me.

And I hoped in bringing Rebecca in, she would be able to ease Fortis's worst pain and fears. I hoped they would be able to be there for each other, to help each other. I loved my sister dearly, and I could not stand to see the abuse she went through, even though she was the one miracle of our clan.

And all because her mother had been genetically manipulated my the Grits.

My father had found her when he had raided a Grit's lab, and he had rescued her, only to find she was his mate. She had explained that she was a genetic experiment, one of many, and had let us have a small glimpse into what the Grits were trying to accomplish. They wanted to be able to have children, but it was near impossible for them to find a human with the right genetics, and the could not inter-breed with each other, even though they could produce female children. We still did not fully know what they were up too.

But when she had had my sister, she had fell into a coma, and to my peoples amazement, did not age a single day, and had produced a female child as an heir to the throne.

A female child with the green eyes of the royal family, and hair that resembled our goddess, and worst of all, she held immortality. She would not have to die, like all the other females would, and wonder if her children found a mate.

But we did not even know if my sister could have children, and we also did not know if she would even have someone out there for her. And they refused to acknowledge that my sister was the leader in trying to find a way to make our females immortal. It was thanks to them that we were even able to expand their life spans at all at this point.

And then my mother came along, a Grit, one of the enemy, and my father had found that he was also a mate to her. I was born, and just seven years after, we had found out that it was not what we had thought, and both my parents died.

The clan had gone into an uproar, saying that my sisters mother was an imposter, and they had then killed her, while she still lay in her coma slumber.

My sister had been two hundred when our dad had died, and when her mother had been heartlessly killed by the very people she was trying so hard to protect. I had been helpless to watch, at seven years old, as my sister had silently stood there as our people insulted her, threw things at her. She just stood there, holding my hand, with silver tears streaming down her face.

**Rebecca's POV**

"I think I need to move." I said softly, laying back in the hospital bed, now dressed in my own clothes once again. My wrist had scarred horribly, but I was okay with it. It was not like I really cared about looks or anything, and I had no one to impress.

"I agree. Maybe into the next town over." Philip agreed in a soft voice, sitting on the bed next to me.

"I have a lot of money. More than I let anyone know."

"How much?"

"Uh, well, you see, during the summer, I worked two gigs a day, and each of them payed about forty thousand to a hundred thousand."

"Rebecca, are you telling me you have over a million dollars saved away?"Philip asked in disbelief.

"Well, I dunno, I haven't checked. It is not like I ever needed to touch it, since I am always playing for the obscenely rich people, and it would seem they were addicted to my music."

"You twist longing and sorrow into a tune one cannot deny." he agreed, seemingly still stunned.

"Please don't tell anyone I have that much. I like working, and I have been lying to my family about how much I make per gig. I know , it is horrible."

"No, it isn't. You should not have to be supplying your parent's retirement." he looked like he was deep in thought for a moment, then he spoke. "I have a cabin that I never use, but it is fully furnished, and it is away from everyone else, I mean, you would have to walk to and from town, unless you bought a car. But it is an hour away from here, and about a ten minuet walk from the town."

"and you would let me move in it?" I was suddenly excited about the idea. If Philip owned it, it must be beautiful, and I wanted to get out of this town, and away from Kalin.

"Yeah, and of course, I will transfer so that I can still oversee your health."

"Is it bad to say I don't even want to think about it, just agree with it?"

"No, I was hoping you would."

"I will. And I will do it tomorrow."

"In a rush?"

"You have no idea."


	20. Sweet Dreams

**Okay, seems like basically no one wanted to read or review on that last chapter. But two weeks later here is the next one. Enjoy.**

**Rebecca's POV**

In the end, the cabin that Philip was allowing me to stay in was much bigger than I had planned on it being. It has a master bed room, a guest bed room, a living room, a full all around deck, and a full kitchen. It was fully furnished, which was good, because I had wanted to get rid of my bed as it was anyway. And thanks to Philip, I also did not have to even go back to my dorm room to get my personal stuff, or dispose of my furniture. But I did pay a visit to the principle, and managed to "persuade" her to give me my diploma with all of my credits and classes. She and I both knew I was only there because I wanted to be, and so she gave it to me with little fuss and pulled a few strings.

Upon arriving, I had to pull off sheets form the furniture, and the place was covered in dust and stale air. But after opening up all of the windows and doors, and scrubbing the place like crazy (not to mention ten bottles of Fabreez later) it smelled of nothing but cleaning products four hours later. The bed was much bigger than what I had owned, a California king, I believe it what Philip had said. It was also a four poster bed, and I had so much fun going out and buying a mesh canopy to drape over it. It was always like every little girl dreamed of it, and to say I was giddy with happiness was an understatement. A small closet had revealed a tucked away laundry room, so I also picked up some wonderful smelling detergent, and washed the hell out of the black and blue sheets and pillows.

I had been here a week now, maybe even a little bit more. I had not touched my violin or my other instruments, and I spent most of my time with Philip in the new hospital that he had transferred too. He made me laugh a lot, talking about his crazy new coworkers, and how all of them seemed to want to have something to do with him. Which was a new experience to him, since before all of his coworkers had avoided him as if he were the soul source of the plague. He didn't seem to mind, he told me that at least if they avoided him none of them could interfere with his work, and I guess he had a point. But he didn't know what to do, when he was in the lab doing some of my blood work and one of them popped in to have a chat with him. Some of them were on the same level as he was, others were lower, but they all seemed to just want to be friendly. That, or they knew how to suck up to the wrong person.

I had yet to speak to Crystal, since I had not seen her since the fight we had had almost a month ago. I missed her, but the strange thing is I had already made some new friends here, and a lot easier than I had back at school. Like Beth, down at the supermarket, who I had made laugh by telling her what my total was going to be before she even scanned my items, and then made her stare at me with saucer eyes when I had been right, all the way down to the change. She had then begged me to tutor her, and in a stunned line of stuttering words, I had agreed. Not that she would need it for long, she learned very quickly, and most of it she could understand easily once it was put down in the basic terminology.

She had then begged to come over to my house, once learning that I living alone, even though I was only two years older than she was, and she was still with her parents. Again, I agreed, even though I was surprised at her enthusiasm and friendliness. After two weeks, she was growing on me, and I always smiled when I saw her crazy texts.

I was taking a break from working, though I swear it was killing me. Even though my phone was ringing off the hook from my clients wanting me to come in and play, I politely refused them all. Partially because I did not feel like dealing with them, and more because I thought Philip would kill me if I accepted just one of them. I hiked a lot, since the cabin was out of the way, just a little into the woods, just five minuets from town. It was easy to ride my bike there and back, and since I lived on my own, groceries were not really a problem.

But even with all of that, I had so much spare time of my hands.

And to top it all off, every since night I would dream of Kalin.

I would dream of him being in this bed with me, kissing me, whispering in my ear as he held me so close I could feel every hard outline of his body on my own. I would cry sometimes, whispering how much I missed him, I was sorry I had to leave him behind as I did, and he would just simply kiss away my tears and then kiss me with a searing passion fueled by love.

I would awake with a jerk, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably. I would angrily wipe them away, and lock away everything that I felt when I awoke. Some part of my heart had loved Kalin, but I had started a new life now, and it had gotten to the point where my love for him could now only live in my dreams, I had locked my heart away so well. Love did things to people, and I could not imagine giving myself to someone like that, then I would not longer be free. Not to mention so many relationships went sour, who was to say that ours wouldn't?

But I was always reminded about what Fortis had said. That me and him were destined to be together, that he would love and cherish me more than any other man could. And that he could bring my body to a peak of pleasure, and no other man would ever even be able to arouse passion in me. It would mean that without Kalin, I would have to sleep with a man I could not love, just to have a child, if I could even have one with a normal human man.

Some part of me would whisper, is love so bad?

But as far as I would concerned, it would always be. Look at the pain Kalin and I suffered in such a short time.

I was ashamed of the part of me that yearned for him. My family would never allow me to marry and to love. No point in trying.

And I would never admit it, but I longed for those dreams all day long. They were not dreams of sex, but of love, of passion, of wanting and missing and understanding. He was so gentle, so beautiful, and I knew he loved me, and it felt to good to see the way he looked at me, to feel his hands when he touched my face. To have his taste when he kissed me, in a small little way claiming me, in the only way I could ever allow.

And then my heart turned to stone when the morning came.

Right now, I was sitting at the kitchen table, a half empty cup of tea sitting in front of me. My chin was in my left palm, and I was staring out the back door into the sunny day and day dreaming away. Not of Kalin, of course, but more of memories, replays. And always the pondering question; what would I do if Kalin ever found me again? But it was a silly question, there was no way he would be able to find me now, and I knew that.

So why did I get a feeling of anticipation in my gut?

A knock at the door scared me, my whole body jerking back, knocking over my tea cup, which my right hand had been wrapped around. I swore and manged to push back away from the table before the tea fell over the side and into my lap. I was just reaching for a rag on the kitchen counter when the knock came at the door again and I sighed. It had to be Beth, even though I was pretty sure I had told her she couldn't come over today. I was a little depressed, and I was never going to admit the true reasons as to why I was. Beth seemed to have an inkling that some man had a claim over me, but from the sad silence I had given her the first time she had asked, she never asked again.

I guess I was treating Kalin as if he were dead. Which to me, he should be.

"Coming!" I called, throwing the rag on the tea in hopes that most of it would soak up. I jogged to the door, sucking a huge breath and forcing a smile onto my face as I pulled open the door.

Which it immediately died.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

**I already have the next chapter typed up, the faster and more of you guys that review, the quicker this chapter will be up. Luv yas ^_^**


	21. I Danced With You Once Upon A Dream

**Well that was fast O_O here is your reward guys!**

"Is that any way to friggin treat your guests?" Crystal asked in a huff, and Rebecca could not seem to say anything, just glare at her. And to top it all off, Ben stood right behind Crystal, looking nervous and uncomfortable, but he still gave her a weak smile and a small wave of greeting.

"It is to two people who I did not expect to see on my doorstep. Last time I checked we had a bitch fight and we haven't spoken since."

"Well yeah, cause you just uped and moved your ass without even saying a word to anyone." Crystal shot back angrily, narrowing her eyes to return Rebecca's glare.

"Well maybe that is how I wanted it. Which brings me back to the main point, how the hell did you find out where I lived."

"Oh, you would be surprised what I can find out!" Crystal snapped, and they were both surprised when Ben softly intervened.

"Philip is still doing my treatments, since I don't mind driving out here and all. And since he was here I knew you would be as well, and I wanted to talk to you and see if you were alright. I heard about the whole thing with you getting kidnapped." his eyes traveled to my wrist, where Kalin's bite marks and scared in a perfect impression of torn flesh and teeth. "So I asked Philip if he could tell me where you lived, and he said he didn't see the harm in that, so when I went home to pack and come back out, cause Philip said I could stay with him for spring break, Crystal heard me talking to him on the phone, confirming your address and all that. She wouldn't stop bugging me about it, so I decided to bring her." he looked at her with hopeful eyes. "I hope you are not too angry for bringing her. I didn't know the two of you had had a fight, but I guess I should have guessed something if you hadn't told her where you had moved too."

"And there you have it!" Crystal sneered, glaring at Ben over her shoulder, and she felt pity for the guy.

She sighed heavily.

"No, Ben, I do not blame you. I should have at least let you guys know I was okay, I know the story should have been all over the news and you must have been worried about me.. Thank you for coming to visit and for caring enough to make an attempt." she then glared at Crystal again. "I still think you were being a bitch, that hasn't changed."

"Whatever," she sighed, obviously brushing off what she had said. Rebecca sighed, then stepped aside.

"Come on in."

"Nice place," Crystal commented, while looking around the living room and kitchen, then throwing her purse onto the couch in a casual manner. "Where is your bathroom?"

"Third door down the hall." she answered absentmindedly, moving back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up the mess she had made. She didn't notice Ben stalking up behind her silently, until he spoke and his voice was so close she jumped again.

"I hope you hold no ill will towards me for what happened."

She twisted around to look at him with confusion, noting that Crystal had already disappeared into the bathroom. She looked up at him, frowning.

"I do not understand what you mean." she said honestly, what would she have to forgive him for?

"When I walked into your bed room and saw Kalin, I said that the two of us weren't together." he said patiently. It surprised Rebecca, after everything else that had happened, that did not even register on her list of importance.

"Oh, it isn't important." she tried to brush it off, but before she could turn around, he pushed the issue again.

"It was because I saw that he could love you." that made her turn back to him fully in shock and confusion.

"What?"

"Kalin."

"Yes, but I don't understand. What do you mean? You saw he could love me?"

"Oh, you didn't notice? When you walked towards the table, he was looking at your face. His expression . . . well, his expression left nothing for imagination. He loved you, I could tell, and I could also tell that you were comfortable in his presence. And we were having so many issues and we barley spent any time together, I didn't think it was fair to you. He would treat you right, I knew he would. Has he come by to visit you?"

All of his words sent her reeling, and made her heart start to pound much harder and faster. To know that his love for her was so evident. And she had left him behind. No! She would not think of it in those terms.

"No, I left there to leave him behind." she hadn't intended to answer him with honesty, but it slipped out before she could seem to stop herself. She put her hand over her mouth and turned away, wishing she could take the truth back out of the air.

"What, why?"

"Because . . . just because!"

"Rebecca, why is it you think you do not deserve to be loved?"

"what!" she snapped, turned back towards him but taking a step back to put space between them. But she only got one step in before she was against the table, and then Ben took that step away from her by taking another step forward.

"You do. You put yourself in relationships where you know that you will grow no emotional attachment, and where you know they only want you for your body. And then, here is this man who is willing to love you unconditionally, I can tell, and you run from him like he is the death angel himself."

"It is none of your business!" she hissed.

"It is! Because you know what, I do care about you! You are my friend, and we were together for a long time, I want you to be happy. But I see what you do."

"I do not run from him because I don't think I deserved to be loved. It is because I cannot love."

"What?" he actually laughed at her, shaking his head. "Is that really what you think of yourself?"

"It is what I know. I have met many men, and none of them have even touched on my heart. Even my own family is quick to tell me I am heartless because I didn't cry when a family member died, or when my dog was run over."  
"Wow," Ben said softly, then shook his head. "You really have convinced yourself of this haven't you? Did you ever think that the reason none of them touched your heart is because you believe you will never be able to love, so you pick the guys who you know will not love you back? You pick the men who do not want something emotional with you." he gently touched her cheek. "You made sure none of them would love you, and that you would love none of them. But you can love, Rebecca."

Before she could say something else, the bathroom door opened, and Ben quickly stepped away from her. Crystal came back into the living room, standing there with her hands on her hips, looking at the two of them.

"Well, isn't this tense, got any night clubs around here?"

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Beth asked, as they stood in the doorway to the night club. The music was night, beating through Rebecca's body and offering comfort and familiarity.

Rebecca shrugged, "I think that it might do me a little good. Maybe I will be able to do some dancing. Though I think Crystal will easily outshine me." they both moved over to the bar, and Rebecca could not spot Crystal, who was already somewhere in the crowd of people dancing.

"I don't like her," Beth said in a low voice, which made her barley audible in the loud music.

"Your not the only one," Rebecca said with a comforting pat on the shoulder. She had asked Beth to come because Ben had refused to and she did not want to be left alone with Crystal, she thought she might end up tearing the girls eyes out if she had to spend alone time with her. She was holding a grudge, but it was one well held.

"So she was someone you knew back at your old hometown?" Beth asked, sliding into a chair on the bar. Rebecca remained standing, she was going to get some dancing in while she waited for her drink order to arrive.

"Yeah, we were friends for a long time. Then shit when down."

"Know how that goes."

"Yeah, sucks."

"Butt loads." Beth flashed a smile at the bartender when he handed her her ginger ale. "So why was Ben looking at me all weird and stuff before?"

When Rebecca had called Beth and invited her over, Ben had just stared at her when she had walked through the door. Stared at her like she was something so beautiful he was afraid to take his eyes off of her. He had seemed embarrassed when Rebecca called him on it, but she had been wondering that herself.

"Guess he just digs you."

"Do you really think so?" Beth asked, seeming honestly interested.

"Oh yeah."

"How do you know him?"

"Hes my ex."

"Oh . . ."

Rebecca laughed, patting her on the shoulder again. "Don't worry, I will not think it is all weird if you decide to date him. It was more of a friend with friend thing, we never did anything, nor did we every really feel like we were dating."

But Beth studied her carefully, sucking and biting on her bottom lip.

"You sure you wouldn't mind?" she asked again, apparently afraid of making things arkward between them.

Rebecca wished them the best.

"Nope, go for it."

"Okay, thank you, really. I am glad you moved down here." then she smiled brightly. "Now we just need to find someone for you."

"Yeah right." she said with a half laugh, and turned to go to the dance floor, but only got halfway before her whole body froze.

Crystal was talking to someone, a tall male who was bent over so she could speak in his ear and he could speak in hers. She could only see Crystal's face over his shoulder, and the males back, but he had long black hair, and his body was well built and easily seen through the tight fitting shirt he had on. The male said something to Crystal, something that made her laugh loud and hard, and the males body tensed as if this angered him.

Then Crystal spotted Rebecca. And if feeling her eyes and his back, the male stood fully, and twisted around.

And Rebeeca's heart stopped as her and Kalin's eyes met.

She spun back around and rushed back to the bar.

"Fuck the ginger ale, please to god give me a shot of whiskey."

**Rebecca's POV**

"Uh, Beck, you okay?" Beth asked, worry coloring her tone. And I could not assure her. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I felt sick to my stomach and panicked. My legs wanted me to run out the door as fast as I could go and run until I go home where I could lock the door behind me. Just meeting his eyes flooded me with all of those dreams I was having of him, and made me feel light headed from the swamping of memories and sensations and feelings that came with them. But there was a dominant part of my brain that was in panic.

How the hell had he found me?

The bartender put my whiskey down on the bar, but a long fingered male hand took it before I could snatch it up and tip it back. My eyes followed the hand as Kalin brought it up to his mouth, locking eyes with mine, before drinking the shot.

"Sir," the bartender said in a warning tone. "If you would like a drink, I will give you one, but please do not go stealing our other patrons drinks."

"Oh she doesn't mind." Kalin said in a drawling voice, with a tone that made my whole body crawl with sexual excitement. He leaned down so he was closer to me, and I could not stop the physical reaction of my body softening towards him. "Do you baby?"

I couldn't say anything, I was trying to sort out everything my body was doing and feeling all at once. The bartender must have taken my silence for an answer, or Beth may have sensed the sexual tension and sent him on his way.

"Sooooo," Beth drawled out, catching the top of my arm and tugging me back towards her, putting distance between Kalin and me. I wanted to hug her in thanks, but Kalin's eyes still locked me in place. Such possession was in his gaze.

"Who is this sexy beast?" Beth asked, but there was no sexual interest in her voice. It was odd to hear, since every other female practically drooled over Kalin. I glanced at her in confusion, and when I looked back and Kalin, I saw that he was also looking at her, but with a more appraising look.

"I am Kalin, and you would be?" he said, giving a smile that had me wanting to sigh with longing. But Beth was unfazed, she gave him a smile back, more friendly.

"I am Beth. And of course by the way you are looking at Beck, I am guessing you already know her."

"Oh yes," he drawled, his eyes looking me up and down. "Intimately."

"Ohhhh! You are just sex candy aren't you! Beck, how come you never told me about him?" Beth asked with a slight whine to her tone.

"Because I am the one she was running from." Kalin answered for me, and I threw him the best glare I could manage. "Isn't that right?"

"You were running from him? But he is sex on a stick!"

"Beth," I said with a hard edge to my voice. "Can you leave us alone for a moment."

"Yep, sure, gone." she said immediately, slipping off the stool and disappearing into the crowd.

"She is a bride to one of my clan members. Would seem they have already met." Kalin said to me once she was gone, and that answered the question as to why she was unfazed by him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I said, sounding more tired than angry.

"Following you, of course."

"Why can't you just leave me be?"

"Because I love you. And you are mine."

"Oh yeah, you love me so much that you are dancing with my best friend."

"That was not what you think it was." and his tone told me not only was it true, but he was not going to elaborate.

"Fine, what the hell do you want from me?"

"Want from you?" he laughed. "That should be obvious. I want a chance. A chance to make you love me the way that I love you."

"Why!"

"Because I cannot live without you." he said it so simply, so . . . calmly. It was infuriating.

"Whatever! Fine, you know what, you will get your chance. But only if you pass every one of my tests!"

"Tests?" he asked, but he only seemed interested, not angry or nervous.

"Yeah." way to steal my thunder.

"Okay. Give them to me."

"Oh no, you will only know them when the come!" partially because I had no idea what I was doing. But was I really doing this? Giving him a chance?

"Fine, again." he said in a voice of silk, and leaned towards me. I almost leaned towards him as well, but then panicked and leapt back.

"AHHHH! No! No kissing or sex until the tests are over!"

"Or unless you want them?" he said with a smug smile.

"That won't happen!" I hissed, but I knew it was a flat out lie. Already I wanted him, and I had just guaranteed I couldn't have him. "First test is dancing!" I blurted, before he could respond. But when a slow smile spread his lips, I swallowed heavily, wondering if I should regret it.

"Then after you, my sexy bride." 


	22. Shattered Chance

**Thank you guys for all the reviews. I am so glad Kalin is finally back, and I am glad you guys review, lol.**

**Rebecca's POV**

I stared at Kalin's face, just as perfect as I remembered it being. I felt heat rising into my own face, because I seriously thought he would have balked at the idea of me testing him, let alone when I challenged him to dance. But did he back out? No. Instead he seemed eager to please, and dammit, now I was the one who wanted to back out. Dancing with him? I was going to burn up before the sanity of my mind could ever make a peep.

"Chickening out?" He taunted, and I was. I was too worried about what would happen if the two of us danced close together. I swallowed heavily, and turned back to the bar, bracing myself against it, suddenly feeling dizzy. My head was light, and the room seemed to spin.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his voice suddenly concerned. That was something new. Most guys would have thought I was just faking it just to get out of dancing.

But sudden realization about what was happening clicked just as he went to move forward to check and help me.

"Stay back!" I snapped, more out of fear than anger, holding out a hand to make him stop. His chest almost touched my palm, but I was too busy trying to calm my body and trying not to puke in panic. The closer he was the quicker my blood was multiplying, and there was no way I was going to be able to make it to Philip in time for a blood letting. I would have to cut myself, or let him feed.

For a moment my mind seized on that, enjoying the idea of being held by him as he sunk his fangs into me. After all, it was natural, wasn't it? My body did it only for him, so why not just give him what was naturally his?

Then my sanity pushed it away. If he kept a distance, maybe my body would calm itself, and I would not have to resort to cutting, because there was no way in hell I was going to allow myself to be held in his arms at this point. I had run from him to avoid situations like this!

"Its your blood, isn't?" his voice had taken on a rough edge, as if he were excited just by the mere idea. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes, something in my body reacting to the excited note in his voice. I backed up a step, scared at the easy way he seduced me.

"Whoa!" he said softly, holding up his hands in a gesture of peace and trying to get me to not bolt. I honestly didn't think I could run at this point anyway, I was greedy for the site of him and for the sound of his voice.

"Please, don't leave." he said softly.

"I won't let you feed from me!" I said softly, my voice barley a gasp of air, even though I didn't think he could tell my heart was racing at the idea, but not from fear, from excitement.

"I will not try too." he assured, but I could tell it was hard for him to say.

"Did you feed from someone else?" I questioned, finding I did not like the idea of him taking the life blood of someone else, female or otherwise. Then I realized that was selfish of me, not allowing him to have my blood, but not allowing him the blood of others that he would need to survive.

"No." such a simple answer.

"Why?" I asked, baffled.

"I cannot take the blood of anyone but you. It would do nothing for me but make the hunger for your blood even worse. Your blood has the right genetics to nourish my body perfectly. We were made for each other." he gave me a smile, hands still the air. I felt a little better from the distance, and was pondering if I could actually stay around him for much longer.

My hand unconciously began to rub my wrist, and his eyes were drawn to the motion. I didn't stop, even though I didn't know why I had done it. It didn't ache, it never did. Guilt split across his face with such intensity it made my heart ache.

"I see why you would not want me feeding from you." he said softly.

"It wasn't your fault." I assured. I don't know why I cared, but I felt like he needed to know.

"I knew it was the only way to get you to break out. So I let you bite, then pulled, hoping it would cause you to struggle and break free. And it did."

"Still," he said, regret and sorrow heavy on his voice. "You must fear me."

"I did," I said honestly, even if I was only being slightly honest. I only feared him a little, but that was before I had talked to his sister.

"What changed?"

"I found out what you are, and found that you could never hurt me, even if you wanted too."

"Ahhhh, my sister." he said with realization, a smile tugging on his mouth. "Did she tell you everything?"

"No, just some things. She said others would be explained by you. She told me the story of your goddess, and how we are paired. Other than that, not really much else."

He studied me, seeing that I was able to now stand on my own. He pondered for a moment, then spoke.

"Look, I am sorry for coming into the club and shocking you like this. I just wanted to see you. It has been so long." he glanced at the bar stool behind him, then took a seat, obviously meaning he would keep his distance if it meant me staying. I raised my eye brows at what he said, and couldn't help but asking.

"You mean this is the first time you have seen me?"

"Yes."

Well guess that means that my dreams were just that, dreams. I didn't know if I was relieved or disappointed. I took a seat on my bar stool, at least a good two bar stools between us. Thank god the music was lower, so we could actually hear one another. I put an arm out on the bar, and he took the opportunity to reach out with a tentative finger tip, and touch the scar. I didn't pull away, just letting him, figuring he at least deserved that.

"How did you find me?" the question was softly, my mind pleased with the soft sensation of him brushing me with his fingers.

"It wasn't hard. All I had to do it follow which town your little doctor friend transferred too."

"You followed Philip?" I was stunned, was it really that easy.

He shrugged, not looking up from my scar.

"I would have done what I had to do to find you. As it turned out, I was able to get into the hospital records and find that you had only one doctor who specialized in your 'problem'." he said the word like it was a thick wad of gum in his mouth.

"Well you certainly seemed like you wanted to see me, dancing with my best friend and all."

The question still failed to rouse him.

"That is not what you thought it was." and that was what he left it at, his voice saying he was unwilling to go further. Well, at least it wasn't what I thought, right?

Yeah, right.

"Why did you flee me?"

Now that question caught _me_ by surprise.

For a couple of minuets my mouth opened and closed, and I could not seem to think of an articulate response to give him. Because with him right here in front of me, all of the reasons I ran seemed stupid and pointless.

"I needed time." I said lamely.

"You needed time, so you uped and left in a day?" he voice held no judgment, it was flat and simple.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds really stupid." I sighed, pulling my arm away from him, rubbing my temples, feeling the low bass in my body, trying to soothe me.

"Kalin, the the two months I knew you, you hit my brother over the head and put him in a coma, you bit me, had sex with me, I got kidnapped, and was told that I was going to be forced to bare your child for experimental purposes. Then I stumbled my way through the woods, all the while nearly bleeding to death on the way, and was then put face to face with a chick to admitted she was your sister who let you go. Oh! And did I forget to mention was the only immortal female of your race?" I shook my head, seriously?

"Well when you put it like that." he said in a mocking voice, but it was fueled with anger at himself. I could tell by his irritated expression, and the way he sat back away from me, his posture stiff.

Okay, maybe that hadn't been the BEST thing to say.

"Look, Kalin. I agreed to give you a chance, on my terms. And that includes no kissing or sex. I regret making your worry, I honestly do, but from what happened I needed time."

"And I agreed to your terms." he said with a spat, and I sighed. He was not agreeable when he was irritated.

"I am going home now."

"I wish you wouldn't." his voice had changed from irritated to pleading in a single moment. But I avoided his eyes, refusing to be swayed. Be nearing him right now was still too much. I needed home, I needed my bed.

"I am sorry." I said simply, pulling the money from my pocket to pay for my drinks, to find he had already done it. I blinked, sighing, and refusing to argue with him and cause my body stress. I turned on my heel from him, my body aching with every step I took away from him, as if I was leaving my whole heart and world behind. I pushed through the crowd, until Beth popped up, laughing and throwing her arms around my waist, and refused to let go until I agreed to dance.

I did, aware Kalin watched me from the shadows, and feeling the power I had just being a female.

But even the joys of dancing could not make me stay in fear of me saying the wrong thing once again and breaking my own heart.


	23. The Love Of The Past

**Rebecca's POV**

I was dreaming. Maybe. To be honest, I really didn't know what was real and what was a dream anymore. Everything, in both realities, felt so real to me. The only difference is when I woke up from a dream none of it was real, but the things in reality were never going to go away.

I was having a dream about Kalin; which should not have caused me anymore surprise anymore since he was all I had dreamt about since I left him. He wanted me to love him, but I didn't think I could do that. I didn't love anyone, not even in my family. I had loved once, and it had ended so horribly I tried to avoid the emotion at all possible costs. I did care about Kalin, he was sweet and seemed like he honestly did love me, but I could not give him what he wanted. He wanted all of me, everything that I could possibly give, and I was too use to my freedom to even thinking about giving it up. And that is what love was, wasn't it? Sacrifice? Your freedom, you spare time, your thoughts, even your personal space. I was already forced to give over my body and my thoughts without my consent, and I was determined to keep a hold of everything else that was mine that I could.

But anyways, back to this dream.

I wasn't really sure how deep asleep I was. It was that strange kind of dream, you know, where you feel like you are caught in-between reality and dream land. I had no control over anything that happened, and yet I could see and feel everything. His hand softly stroking my cheek, his other hand warm on my waist. I tried to shake of this feeling, to either struggle my way to reality or go deeper in my dream, but I couldn't seem to do either.

"Kalin," I murmured, sluggish and sleepily. Surely this was a dream, brought on by the fact that I had been depressed and had watched old romance movies that were playing on tv. Funny how the universe seemed to laugh at you at times.

He smiled softly, cupping my cheek and leaning forward to kiss my forehead, so softly, tenderly. I took in a deep breath, smelling him, feeling my body become jelly, too tired to become aroused, but willingly melting into him, surrendering.

I wanted to kiss him, it was such a perfect moment. I tilted my head back, hinting what I wanted, and he paused, as if he weren't sure he should take my up on my offer. I frowned, my dream Kalin had never hesitated before. Was my subconscious feeling guilty?

Then I became aware of something cold on my thigh. Something REALLY cold!

Oh shit! This was real!

I leapt from the bed with a scream, my mind sharpening in an instant, spinning to find Kalin still laying on the bed, blinking at me in surprise. Then he smiled, almost guiltily.

"Sorry for fogging your mind, but I just wanted to enjoy you like that a little while longer." I was panting, more from surprise than anything else, my mind whirling and trying to put everything together while taking in his words and making them make sense.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I wailed, realizing he was in MY bed, in MY house.

"Your door was unlocked. I knocked, but you didn't answer."

"How the hell do you know where I live! And of course I didn't answer! It's. . . well its . . . what time is it?" I didn't have a clock in the bed room. I always had a habit of waking up in a half daze, looking at it, and seeing a completely different time than was on the clock and freaking out, thinking I was late or that it was time to get up. It was annoying, especially since now I had no where to go.

"Its eight thirty."

"Are you kidding me!" I yelled.

"Um, are you yelling cause it is a good or a bad thing?"

"I never get up before nine! Ugh, I can't stand getting up early." I then spied a bag on the floor just at the side of the bed. "What is that?" I said lamley, pointing at the bag.

"Are you mad at me for being here?" he questioned instead, ignoring my question.

"Kalin, you broke into my house. And hold on a second, what the hell do you mean you fogged my mind?"

"Ah, yeah, lets just say it is something I can do."

"Because you are Thorian? Or because I am your bride?"

He looked uncomfortable.

"A little of both. Its just mental pushing, you can do it to me too, once you learn how." I knew he was trying to get my to look on the bright side, but I didn't really see mental strength as a bright side. He was invading my personal space, yet another thing I had just lost to him.

"Your a jerk." I hissed.

"You almost kissed me." he pointed out, he way he way eyeing me making me realize he was interested to know why. Maybe he remembered my remark earlier and was getting a hint that I was having dreams about him.

Or maybe I was just paranoid.

"I thought you were a dream." I pointed out with a snap of irritation.

"Isn't the first time." he muttered, climbing from the bed. I gaped at him, wondering what on earth he had meant. Was he really here all along, and I had never been dreaming? No, no, he had said he had just run into me. So when else could he be speaking of.

The hospital.

Sudden mortification and shame came over me in a rushing wave, and my whole face and neck turned beat red, faster than I could turn my head to hide it. God, when I was in the hospital bed I had made out with him, then pleaded him to no longer appear in my dreams. He had no longer appeared in reality, but then I had cursed myself by him always appearing in my dreams. Seems I was doomed.

"I am sorry." the words tumbled out before I could stop them, or before I could realize why I was saying them. But when I saw the lines of his face soften a bit, I understood. I had caused him pain by doing so. By making him feel like I could never accept him in person but only in my dreams.

"Would you have kissed me?" I asked, trying to push aside my anger and irritation and remind myself that I had promised to give this guy a chance. And I could not do better than him, so I need to start trying.

"To be honest? Yes, I would have been unable to help myself." his green eyes were so intense when he said it, mixed with want and heat, not a hint of apology. It made my heart speed up at his honestly, and also because the idea excited me, made me feel wanted.

I cleared my throat, looking away from the heat in his gaze and shuffled my feet.

"So what is that?" I asked again, pointing to the bag. I could do this, this wouldn't be do bad.

"A present." he said with a big grin. He started to come around the bed, but then stopped, a frown creasing he face.

"What?" I asked, my stomach getting all tickly at his proximity.

"Your blood . . ." he trailed off, as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. But I understood him, and I suddenly felt shy.

"Ah, it is taken care of."

"Is is?" damn, he asked. I was hoping he wouldn't.

"Yeah, I mean, uh, I took care of it when I got home last night."

"How?" he was curious now. Should have kept my mouth shut.

"I have a kit from Philip that allows me to draw my own blood." I said in a rush, snapping my mouth shut with an audible click to keep myself from admitting anything else.

"You can do that to yourself?"

"Well, yeah, why not?"

"That hurts, how can you just do it to yourself?" he seemed almost awed at the fact, as if I were a strong warrior just from being able to do that. I pursed my lips, thinking back, trying to remember a time when drawing blood did hurt for me like it hurt for most others.

"It use to hurt, when I was really small. I have had to have blood drawn even when I was in the womb and when I was born. I used to cry all the time when I had them done."

"What changed?" he asked softly.

I shrugged.

"To be honest, I don't know. Maybe they never hurt at all, maybe I was just a little kid who didn't like the look of needles and the idea of them being stuck in me. But as I got older, Philip was very skilled, and they didn't hurt at all, and he taught me how to do them without them hurting. I guess I am biased, though, and not really the best person to ask." I shook my head, forcing a smile. "Enough talk of that. Come get your surprise, I am eager for it."

With a smile of his own, he did come around and get it.

"I will be right back," he said softly, a husky promise that made me shiver, as he left the room and I then heard him in the kitchen.

"So, how many tattoo's do you have?" he asked, his voice loud so I could hear him clearly, and I could hear the casualness in his voice. He knew I only had one, but he wanted to have a normal conversation.

"Only one." I would indulge him then, it couldn't hurt.

"What does J.T stand for?" shit, that was a question I was hoping he would never ask. I took a deep breath, rubbing my temples and trying to wrack my brain. An excuse, I had to give him an excuse. But I was panicked now, because he was not going to like the answer to the question.

"Becca?" he called, worry in his tone.

Shit, shit shit. Oh hell, I was screwed. God, if you are up there, I hope you burn in hell for sticking me in this sort of situation!

"Jarron Tom." I called out, my voice horse and shaking. It was from fear of how he was going to react and also from the pain that the memories brought. There was a long silence, and then, "A man's name?"

I knew he was not going to take this well.

I sat down heavily on the bed. How could I explain this to him in a way he would understand? How could I explain that Jarron and me were not lovers, but I loved him in the dearest sense, that we were not friends, but companions that I never knew existed.

I swallowed heavily, the memories unable to be pushed back now, choking me up with tears, with pain, with joy from that time, from the loss of something so wonderful.

"Becca?" Kalin was in the doorway now, and I was hunched over, sitting on the bed. I didn't want to do this now, I wasn't ready, he wouldn't understand.

I almost jumped when Kalin's hand smoothed over my back. How could he touch me, no doubt thinking that I had my lovers name tattooed on my shoulder? How could he come near me, when he no doubt knew that because of Jarron, I didn't know how to love another.

"Was he your lover?" he asked softly, no condemning tone, just a simple question. I shook my head, crying silently, not wanting him to see. But his hand came under my chin, and gently he tilted my face back. I could have fought, but I didn't see a point. He felt the tears when he touched me, fighting him would have just been fighting for a pride I didn't think I had anymore.

"Then what was he?" he stroked my tears away, and it was almost too much. The memories mixed and melded and I was getting very confused about what was past and what was present. Couldn't get a hold.

"He was my best friend!" I said miserably. Babbling seemed to grip onto reality, and was all I had at the moment. I was trying to grip, trying to sort, but the memories were so real, so vivid, so wonderful. I gripped his arm, trying to anchor myself.

"What happened to him?"

"He died. The doctors told him he head a tumor in his lung, but it was easily removable, that he would be fine. But he said no, he said he wouldn't go through with the operation."

"He died because of the tumor?"

"No! A month later he was found dead in his bed. The doctors said he had died due a tumor in his brain that they hadn't seen." I sniffled, trying to stop the tears, but I remembered the day so clearly, finding his body in his bed, his eyes closed, a smile on his face. The doctors were stunned, they had done a full search of his body and they had not noticed the small tumor on the MIR. But someone Jarron had known. My kind Jarron, the only person to ever treat me like a human being.

It was his electric guitar I had in my closet.

"Oh, Becca. I am sorry."

"I just don't understand. How did he know he was going to die? He did know, he had everything in order when he died, everything, down to what he wanted everyone to have from him."

"It sounds to me like he was an old spirit."

"And old what?" it surprised me out of my tears, because I HAD heard Jarron mention them once.

"A spirit that is reborn over and over again, only to die at the same age, around the same time. They are always kind people, loving to help others and try to change the wrong."

"He was going to die anyway." I said numbly, feeling my hopes crumble. I had always hoped that there was something I could have done. That if I had just urged him to cooperate with the doctors more, they would have found the tumor, they would have seen it and saved me.

And now, Kalin was telling me there was not a damn thing I could have done.


	24. The Final Nail, One Last Kiss

**Sorry guys, I know I have been slacking a bit on the updates and on the details of the chapters. I will try to pick it up. Thank you to all those who have stayed and still read and review.**

**Kalin's POV**

I stared at my Bride, seeing the shock and hurt on her face, the tears filling her eyes, and I regretted my words. Could I have lied to her? I don't know, all I knew is this male, even if not her past lover, was very important to her, and it hurt her to know she could not have done anything. Was this not a good thing? From the look on her face, I guess the knowledge was not a good thing to her. My people always tried to follow a code of honesty and truth, but I quickly finding out that humans did not always appreciate the same.

I was at a loss myself. This female, my female, had just admitted to me that in some shape and form she had loved another male, and even after all of these years he still had a strong hold on her heart. If I could not get her to let go of him, she was never going to be able to love me. The dilemma struck me hard, for I did not know how to work around it. What did humans do? I didn't know, I had been stuck in a mad stupor with no way to pick up on the modern ways.

They dated, right? I was still finding new foods and places, and now that the idea was open to me I could see a few places that I think Becca would like.

But could I win her? Could I take her out on dates and give her gifts? Could I make her laugh and smile like I had seen so many others do? Would she allow me? She had been mad when she had first found me here in her home, but she had eventually just let it go and had even seemed to relax. Until I had tried to keep a casual conversation, and failed horribly, might I add. How did I manage to pick the one kink in her armor? The major kink, at that. Never let my sister say that communication via speech was one of my strong points.

I gently reached out and touched under her chin, feeling the heat of her skin compared to the coolness of mine. My heart beat several beats slower than the average humans per minuet, and as a result I ran a few degrees cooler, which of course saved me on heating costs during the winter. But just being near her like this made my heart beat just a little faster, but I still managed to remain cooler than her. I didn't know what I was doing, I was just acting on what my body was telling me to do, what my genetics were telling me to do. Which, unlike my brain, were programmed on how to handle these kinds of situations with my Bride when I found her. That, and I also had a little practice in calming down my sister.

But that was so long ago.

She did not react to me touch, she did not even seem to register me in the room anymore. So leaned down, so close that I could have kissed her, and blew cold breath into her mouth, breathing her name on a soft whisper of love and affection.

"Becca," I whispered softly, my lips barley even moving to form the word. She blinked, whether from the cold of from the sensation of our closeness I wasn't sure. I gently smoothed her hair away, caressing her face, bringing her back to me little by little. I gazed at her with everything I felt, until I could tell by the look in her eyes she was no longer being swallowed by the memories of the past, but here with me in the present. My body was tight with want, being so close to her after so long. But my mind openly rebelled. Becca needed me right now, my Becca, the Becca that could not harm a single thing without feeling some sort of pain over it.

And I knew she felt pain over leaving me when her eyes welled up with tears once again and she spoke to me, not pulling away from out close proximity to each other.

"Why are you so good to me?" also whispered, more like choked out on a strangled breath, and it pulled on my heart.

"Because I love you."

"But why? Why? I left you behind, with no explanation or anything. You may have never seen me again." Simple facts, but true. But they were not important.

"Becca," I said softly, my eyes holding hers when I could tell she wanted to look away, uncomfortable with the intensity I was unleashing. "I would have kept hunting you until the day we both died."

"Kalin . . . I . . ." gently, ever so gently, I laid my fingers across her mouth. I wasn't pushing, I knew she needed time, she didn't function like me. I had fallen in love with her the moment I met her. But I had known everything she would be to me. I knew she would be my life and my salvation. But to her, I had been a weird stranger, and then a good friend. And then I had skipped a step and become a lover. A lover that had showed her what she could have, but only with me.

Did she really resent something like that, the idea of only being able to be with me?

I had been drifting off in my own thoughts, I hadn't noticed the subtle changes in Becca's body. But when I felt her body tense, my eyes snapped back into focus on her face, and what I saw made my heart stutter for a second.

You know how they always say 'and the next thing I knew we were kissing'? They lie. There are a series of little hints and steps, and nothing every just happens so spontaneously without your body knowing ahead of time. And I knew, we were going to kiss, her eyes were focused on my mouth, and half of me told me to remember what she had said about no kissing, and the other half of me thrilled in the idea of being able to taste her again. Just a small taste. No harm, right?

Wrong. God damnit!

"Becca," I began, intending to pull away, to end this before it got to a bad level and she kicked me out because she was so pissed at me.

"Please, Kalin." I blinked at the plea, looking back to her face, finding her lifting her gaze to mine. "I need this. I don't love you, I am sorry. But I do want you. Can that be enough, for now? Please, I need this." Could it be enough for now? No, I didn't think it could be, I would always want it all, would always need it all, just having her care about would never be enough. But was a small kiss worth the anger she was sure to feel when she had fully righted herself again?

Maybe?

"I won't hate you for it. I know what I said, and you were right. Just being near you makes me want to kiss you, and right now I am not strong enough to resist." then she gave a small laugh that blew warm air across my cheek. "Hell, when am I ever?"

Her admission sent hear spiraling through me, and it awoke a deep animal instinct. The Thorian instinct. To claim.

"You should never have said that." I growled, but before I could even make the first move, her arm came around the back of my neck and pulled my mouth to hers.

And boy, was I wrong.

This was not some small kiss. This was liquid fire, sending hot shivers all across my cool shiver, rending every limb in my body useless, making my mind completely blank out. Her lips were satin, her tongue hot silk that stroked every inch inside my mouth, dancing and dueling with my own tongue. Her teeth nipped at my lips and I found myself giving a small growl in the back of my throat and responding in kind.

Dancing, kissing, wonderful bliss, not just a small kiss as I had presumed. It was mindless bliss, wonderful, perfect . . .

And everything I didn't have.

The thought awoke that primal instinct even more. It made my hands inch to take this hold I had on her waist and pull her against my body to feel the possession. It also had the bad side affect of making my fangs extend and ache with the need to pierce her throat.

I pulled away so fast not even I was expecting it, and I stumbled and fell to the floor. Becca was surprised as well, her arms still frozen in place from where she was holding me, and I could actually now feel the place her nails had dug into my skin. But the pain of the impact with the floor helped me clear my head, and I quickly got to my feet. But I was shaking, and my fangs wouldn't retract.

I had to get a grip on myself.

"Um, ice cream." I said quickly, the words slightly obscured, and I fled the room. I had just spilled my surprised to her, but I didn't care, I was just trying to put distance between us.

Date her? How could I date her when the very smell of her made my mouth ache and water and my Thorian instinct rise with a harsh vengeance? I had chased her away once, I didn't want to do it again.

With shaking hands I finished scooping the ice cream I had bought for Becca into a bowl, and went to open the fridge slash freezer to put away the rest of it and froze. Sitting there on the shelf of the fridge, was a bag of her blood. I swallowed heavily, forcing myself to slowly put the ice cream carton on the bottom freezer section and slowly shut the doors.

"You can take it, if you want." her voice startled me, and I spun around to look at her, the very sight of her making me want to kiss her again. Her hair was still a bit of a mess, and her cheeks were still flushed with color. But her eyes were calmer, and it helped me ground myself just a little bit more.

"Why? I don't need it." I said stiffly.

"You don't?"

"No, I can survive without it."

"But isn't it harder?" so much harder. "And doesn't it help quell the need?" So friggin much.

"But why would you offer it to me?"

"Because I am not cruel. I can tell why you pulled away, and I have to say I don't think any other guy would have, especially when I can tell the need is so strong. Just take it. If I am going to be hanging around you more then my blood will be high enough that Philip will be able to draw another pint when I meet him and he wont even have to know what I drew a pint myself, or that it is unaccounted for." she shrugged.

"You haven't told your Philip about me?" I had to admit, I was a little surprised.

"No, I thought he would know, especially with how much he and your sister seem to hang around each other."

"Have you seen her lately?" I had to ask the question. I wasn't ready to see my sister yet, not until I could atone for what I had done to Becca.

"No," she said eying me. "But I am sure she would love to see you."

"Yes, I will have to thank her for filling you in when I failed too."

"You didn't have time, Kalin. Things flew out of control so quickly I don't even know where one thing starts and another thing ends. With my brother, and then the kidnapping, and then, ugh, I don't even know."

"You forgot the sex." I said mildly, the very idea making my mouth ache again.

"Yes, well, I cannot exactly say the sex was bad."

"I am sorry about your brother." It was a late apology, but one that was deserved. I saw the twist in her features, but then she took in a deep breath and shrugged.

"To be honest, I am not all that sorry. He abused me repeatedly, and I cant seem to pull up the remorse to care that he hasn't woke up yet." she fidgeted for a minuet, then said. "Look, Kalin. I am sorry I ran out on you, but I just wanted a chance to see if I could live my life without giving up everything I had and everything I was. I wanted to see if I could marry someone who didn't have the hold of me you did, and have children, and just live my life. I guess, though, I knew you would find me, so I never really tried." I tried to hide my expression at the thought of her trying to have children with another man, but it must have been written all over my face. She blushed and looked away, and then muttered. "I do want children one day, Kalin."

"I know. I just don't think you understand what you being my Bride really means."

"I know, your sister explained."

"I don't think she explained the children part."

"She said you guys can only have one child. Well, the women can only have one. Something about a gene or something."

"Yes, but I guess she didn't mention that the sexual excitement that is linked to me, well, having children is the same." she paused for a moment, both of us taking in the silence. Then she spoke again.

"Are you saying I can only have children with you?" there was shock in her voice, and horror. I guess to her I had just tied her down in the worst and last possible way. I had complete control over her body. And yes, she did hate it.

"Yes, I am afraid I am."

"So, you are saying no matter what, I can never have a life without you." she spat bitterly.

It hurt.

"Is the idea of being with me, having children, being completely sexually pleasured, happy with life, having a husband that will love you for eternity, and living for several hundred years a bad thing?"

"It is when it is with a man I don't love!" she screamed, tears running down her face. She then fled back into the bed room and slammed the door. I had once again said something I shouldn't have. I had nailed the last nail into the board. Told her her being with me was inevitable, no matter what she did.

Damn this, I was trying!

I opened the fridge and grabbed the bag of blood, then I hunted down a piece of paper and pen. I was agitated, but I scribbled out my note as legible as I could and then left, leaving the door open so I wouldn't slam the damn thing.

Women were complicated.


	25. All I've Ever Had

**Thank you to those who reviewed, even my crazy Fiance who decided to pretend to be gangster so I would know. XD enjoy.**

Rebecca eventually awoke again, way later in the afternoon, by the look of the sunlight that was coming through her window. She rolled over onto her back, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes, feeling the crusted salt that was left over from her crying herself to sleep earlier this morning. Much earlier, too early, if someone were to ask her.

She just didn't get Kalin. Honestly, she didn't. She thought she had all men figured out into one logic line, but he blew it all to pieces. She had easily held a relationship as long as she satisfied the mans physical needs, and they tended to not ask much else from her, and offer her gifts in response.

Though she did have to admit that she had never been sexually attracted to a man before Kalin, and on some level that infuriated her. Okay, on basically all levels that infuriate her. Again,. It was something she had no control over, and Rebecca loved to have control. She had been in control in all of the relationships she had been in so far, and she was getting agitated that the one man she wanted to be in a relationship with now she knew she would have no control at all.

Or would she?

She pursed her lips at that thought. She would have to save that away for later.

Right now, she was starving.

She rolled out of bed, careful to not make a loud bang as she hit the floorboard in case Kalin had decided to stick around after she had locked herself into the bed room. She carefully opened the door, thanking Philip that he had the tendency to keep everything he owned in brand new condition. The door didn't even make a sound when she slowly opened it, and then she waited for a good minuet or so, waiting to see if a single sound came from anywhere else in the cabin.

Nothing so far.

Hesitantly, she left the room, creeping softly so she didn't even make a scuff sound on the floor with a toe. But when she reached the living room she paused. What was she going to do if Kalin WAS still here? Could she really run back and lock herself in her bedroom?

In answer, her stomach growled, loudly, and she sucked in a surprised breath, as well as a blush creeping to her cheeks and the thought of Kalin hearing that. But no sound came as a response, so she allowed herself to relax a little and finally go into the kitchen.

Empty.

She was NOT disappointed by that fact. She wasn't.

With an UN-agitated stride, she moved to the bowl that was sitting on the counter by the fridge. She had seen Kalin scooping ice cream into the bowl, and sure enough, now it was all melted and soggy, and not at all appetizing. She tossed the bowl into the sink with a crinkle of her nose, then moved to the fridge again and opened it, scanning the contents on something to settle her aching and begging stomach. Then, she would hunt down something to kill her crying jag headache.

But her eyes caught the container of ice cream that Kalin had left behind, but her mind rebelled. She had never, once in her life, eaten something unhealthy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. She was always good about having three meals a day, healthy and good, and snacks in between. But her eyes kept magnetizing towards the ice cream container. No, she wouldn't do that, she couldn't, could she? Not unless she justified it, of course.

Hmmm, what would justify this?

Didn't females binge when they were nursing broken hearts? Well, hurt feelings?

Whatever, good enough.

She snatched the container and popped the lid off, allowing the fridge to swing shut. She peered into curiously, her eyes sorting through the contents. She spied vanilla ice cream, cherries, and . . . brownies? She frowned and looked at the container, to find there was no label. Surely they did not make ice cream like this? What a weird combination.

Who on earth would eat this? She nibbled her lip, then gave in, going to get a bowl and scooping the contents into it. She had just picked up a spoon and was about to sit down at the table, when there was a knock at the door. She paused, but knew it wasn't Kalin, he would have just come in, and Crystal had already gone back to school, but Ben had stayed behind, claiming to need to help Philip with something. Crystal had told her this before she had left the club last night, but she did not have much of a heart for feeling sadness that her friend was once again leaving. Besides, her and Crystal were still not on the best of terms.

And she knew it wasn't Beth, who would be hard studying for her midterms for school.

So who in the world did that leave?

She frowned, bowl still in hand, and moved to the door, opening it with her free hand.

To find Fortis standing there.

"Hey, Rebecca," Fortis said on a cheery note, giving her a big smile that made Rebecca feel like she was still out of it.

"Uh, hey, Fortis." she blinked wearily, then asked. "Uh, how did you find out where I lived?"

"Philip." she said simply.

Yeah, she was going to have to talk to him about giving out her damn address to everyone who came by and asked.

"But listen, I came by for a reason. I wanted to know if you knew where my brother was. Haven't seen him around, and if I found you, well, I figured chances were that he had found you first." she sounded hopeful, and she wanted to step on Kalin's foot for upsetting his sister so. She turned back to look at the kitchen, noting now that the back door was still wide open.

"Nope," she said as she turned back to Fortis. "I have no clue where he is at the moment. But you are right, he did find me already."

"Hey! Is that Cherry surprise?" Rebecca blinked at the name, then followed Fortis's eyes to the bowl she was holding.

"You know this?"

"Yeah! It is three of my favorite foods that Kalin got the clan to put together . . . well anyway, we are the main maker for it, and we started to sell it after . . . well after Kalin disappeared."

Her loneliness called to Rebecca, because she understood how she felt. Not completely, of course, she had never had anyone to care for her like Fortis and Kalin obviously did.

"Would you like to come in and have a bowl with me?" and Rebecca knew she had said the right thing when the sadness disappeared from Fortis face and she lit up light a Christmas tree.

"Really? I don't want to bother you."

"No, it is okay. Besides, if it is your favorite ice cream it wouldn't seem right for me to try it on my own." so she ushered her into the house and set to getting her a bowl of her own.

"Did Kalin give it to you?" Fortis said, by way of conversation when Rebecca set the bowl and spoon in front of her and sat across from her.

"Yes, after he broke into my house." she snorted at the shocked look on Fortis's face. "Yes, your brother is now a top notch stalker. We were okay though, for a little while."

"I would have kicked him out while dragging him out by his ear!"

"I almost did," she said with a giggle around her ice cream, but that caused Fortis to giggle also, and for a second or so neither of them seemed able to stop.

"I am sorry he broke in." Fortis said on a gasped breath when they finally managed to stop.

"Don't apologize for him. Besides, like I said, we were fine, for awhile."

"What happened, if it is okay to ask." she added quickly, making Rebecca give her another smile.

"He told me I can only have children with him as well."

"Ah, I thought that was obviouse with the whole sex thing. I apologize for not going into detail."

"No, again, don't apologize for him. I was just angry, because it seems like the more and more I find out about being his Bride, the more and more I lose the little control I have over the relationship."

she was not prepared for Fortis to snort so hard so ice cream came out of her nose. She leapt up to grab a napkin, only to notice a piece of paper on the floor. She picked it up without looking, and set it on the counter as she went back to hand Fortis the napkin.

"Sorry," Rebecca said in confusion, wondering what it was she had said.

"Is that really what you think?" Fortis asked in a stunned tone, gaping at Rebecca like she was the missing lynx.

"Well, yeah."

"Then you really don't understand being a Bride." she said with surprise then shook her head, setting down her spoon. "You have more control than you think. The women in the Thorian clan are cherished above everything else. They save the men from eternal darkness and madness, give them a family, pleasure, something to fill their lives with joy and happiness. The women are hard to find, even with the medical precautions we have set into place." she looked up to meet Rebecca's eyes. "Do you understand what I am saying? Kalin would do anything for you, anything! All you have to do is ask and he will never question anything you asked of him. Anything you want is yours, you will never be missing anything. He will cherish you like no man ever could, and give you things that no man ever could. You are his entire existence, and while it may seem that you have little power, you have all of the power and he had none. While you are able to resist your feelings and continue on with you life, Kalin is on a razor edge between Thorian and man. He fights his nature just to spend time casually in your presence."

"I don't understand though. Why? Why must he fight?"

"Because the first year is always the hardest, especially when the bonding is not fully complete."

"I thought you said it was." Rebecca said wearily.

"Look, that isn't important. The point is, he is struggling more than you know to give you what you want without going over any boundaries you may have placed. I have never seen my brother fight so hard for something." she smiled and shook her head. "The kid I knew, before he left, would have just kidnapped you and brought you back to the clan grounds."

"Well, I am sure that would have gone over well." Rebecca said on a snort, toying with a cherry in her mouth. The ice cream was good, a perfect mix of the sweetness of the cherries, the spices of the vanilla, and the chocolate of the brownie. Fortis laughed at the comment, before looking down at her ice cream, and then standing.

"Look, it was nice talking to you, but I should be spending more time looking for my brother."

"You really love him, don't you?" Rebecca asked in awe, looking up at her. Fortis paused for a moment, thinking it over, and then she nodded.

"We were all each other had for the longest time. But I am glad he found you, I really am." as she passed by she laid a hand on her shoulder. "Just think about what I told you. Things are not always what you think them to be."

Weren't they?


	26. Just Blood, For Love

**Ahhh sorry people I am behind on the updates buy my fiance has been ravishing me and I have been too lazy to actually get un-relaxed enough to update. I will make it up to you!**

"Hey, this ice cream is actually really good!" Rebecca rolled her eyes in playful exasperation at Beth's exclaimed statement.

"And how many times did I tell you it was good?" Rebecca demanded, throwing a smile over at her friend from across her kitchen table. It was late in the evening, and she had asked Beth to come and spend the night with her. It had been two weeks since she had seen hide or hair of either Kalin or his sister, and she hated to admit it, but she was actually starting to miss him. She got riled up when he was here, but she felt better for it, and not having him here was even worse. Besides, she didn't mean to actually push him away, it was part of her makeup, the way things went with her, and she was starting to think she had seriously screwed up.

"A billion and one." Beth replied automatically, scooping another spoonful into her mouth. Rebecca wished she could feel so relaxed and enjoy the time they were sharing, but she felt on edge, like she was missing something important, and her gut was warning her that this time was somehow crucial and she didn't feel safe. But that was silly, wasn't it? How could a time be crucial? But she had to admit that whenever Kalin was not around she did not feel safe, like someone was watching her, tailing her, just waiting for the right time to make their move. She was worried it could be the Grit's but didn't know if they actually had any use of her without Kalin. True, they did still have Kalin's stuff, so she could still be used as a baby carrier if they could get their hands on her.

But at night, when she always feared the worst of the anxiety and fear was coming, it would flee. And it was the most wonderful thing in the world. She felt safe when she climbed into bed at night, and the feeling lasted well on into the morning, but then it would return with a clawing vengeance. She didn't know what caused her fear and she didn't know what caused her relaxation, all she knew was that Kalin's name was always on the tip of her tongue when her spine was knotted all the way up with stress, and she could still taste his name when she fell to sleep at night and met him in her dreams. And she also found a terrifying trust in him, a man she did not know well, that he would never allow their enemies to get that close to her.

Wow, their enemies? _His _enemies.

"So was their something you wanted to talk to me about?" Beth piped, getting up to put the bowl in the sink. Rebecca watched her, worrying her lip with her teeth, wondering how she was supposed to approach the subject.

"Um, well . . ." she looked down at the table, trying to just spit it out, but her body wouldn't just respond.

"Is this about sex on a stick?" that made her head snap up, finding her friend leaning against the skin, watching her with a smile. She forced a smile in return, even though she found that her body did not react well to another female thinking sexually of Kalin.

_Mine_ some alien part whispered. A part utterly feminine that wanted to be ravished, taken, and loved.

_Shove it_, the more familiar part of her whispered to that alien part.

"Yes, this is about Kalin."

"I though the two of you were on the 'tests'. You know, then the hot steamy sex."

"Beth!" Rebecca gasped, her whole face flaming red.

"What? I know you did! The way you reacted to him was ice melting to heat."

"I did not."

"Why are you so scared of that part of you?" Beth asked, coming to sit back beside her at the table. She would have brushed off the comment had her friends expression not been so serious. Beth was rarely serious. "Any situation that involves you just being a female, you rebel. What can honestly be so bad about a guy that looks at you like you are the very universe itself? From what I gathered, you ran from him, left him in the wind, and he holds no malice or anger towards you and has allowed you to string him along on any little whim. Please, tell me the bad side of this? I mean, not to mention he is walking sex, and you run from him?"

"Because of him I was kidnapped!" Rebecca just about yelled. She hadn't meant to say it, but it had come out. Her head fell into her hands, because now she could not get away without explaining, and with that explanation she was going to have to tell her friend that she was in the for the same fate. Bound to a male for all eternity.

"Look," she said much more calmly, guilt slamming into her from her friends shocked expression. "I have some thing to tell you, and you must not tell anyone else. Can I have your word?" was she breaking rules by doing this? She could tell Beth some things, right? Oh crap, which things? Was it some sort of sacred vow that the male had to tell his female? No, surely not, since Fortis told her some stuff, and probably not the rest to force her brother to step up and take the plate.

"Oh god, why do I suddenly feel like I am in the middle of men in black? Do you have one of those memory things? Oh that would be so cool!" wait, her friend was actually excited about this. She again rolled her eyes and launched herself into a explanation of everything. From the goddess and her forbidden love, to her twin daughters and then the good daughters decedents, the Thorian's. She went into further detail, on the sex, the children, and then, the finale gory detail, the blood drinking.

When it was over, Beth just sat there, her face closed off, her eyes dead and deep in thought. Rebecca had never ever seen her like this. It scared her, but also gave her hope. Maybe this would allow her to have someone to share this with so she didn't feel like she was going to tear her hair out at every moment.

"Why did you tell me this?" Beth asked, her voice light.

"Because Kalin had informed me that you are also a Bride, like me. I thought you deserved to know and I honestly needed someone to talk to this about. And maybe with you knowing ahead of time you wont freak and take off like I did."

"So, you say that we have enemies?"

"Yes, they call them Grit's, because, from what I have learned, they do not know name of their goddesses twin sister."

"So, they drink the blood of their Bride's? To live?"

"No, from what Kalin said they don't need to it live, but I think he may have lied a little bite. Bit! I mean bit!" she flushed, but hope sprang in her heart when her friend smiled at her.

"I am glad you told me this. It is food for thought. I am also glad you do not have to go through this by yourself anymore. I would love to meet Kalin's sister, Fortis, you said? She seems like she I know what she is talking about." then she fell quiet again, once again thinking. Rebecca was about to scream from the silence, when Beth spoke again.

"So, he will drink my blood?"

"Yes." didn't she cover that part?

"And will he treat me even a fraction of how Kalin treats you?"

such an odd question.

"Um, better, I suppose. From what I gather they, ah, cherish their females. They are the light in their darkness."

"Then count me in."

"What?" had she just heard her right? Had her friend just willingly walked into this? No kicking? No screaming? No denial?

Damn, she made Rebecca look like a goddamn toddler in comparison.

"Yeah, for a lifetime of love and family, I don't care if he chomps half of my neck away in the process."

"But what about being on equal ground? What about getting to know each other before sex?"

"Beck, I don't know what planet you are from, but any female knows that if a man looks at you like that and agrees to anything you say, you are not on equal ground, he is your bitch, willingly. And sex does not always ruin a relationship, Beck. And who said we have to have sex before we get to know each other. From what you said the madness reaches them at a certain age, right? Don't you think I would have noticed a crazed guy running after me?" well, yeah.

"Do you have any idea on who it is?"

"Honestly? No clue, I have had quite a few guys chasing after me, but none that look at me the way you say they will, except for . . . well, I dunno if that's possible."

"Who?"

"Your ex?"

"Ben? Oh, no, no way, he is human, trust me," she laughed, "I have heard rumors about his sex life. From what I gather they cant sleep with anyone but their Bride." there was silence again, this time full of unspoken words. Till again, Beth was brave and spoke them.

"Stop running, Beck, please."

"Why? Why does every one say running is always a bad thing? It stops me from hurting."

"Does it?" she questioned softly, and without a word drew Rebecca into a hug. It was then Rebecca felt the tears spill from her eyes, the ones she always felt deep in her chest but they would never come. Why now? Why could she not cry when she needed too?

"Don't run from him anymore, he deserves that much. Think of what you can have, Beck. He can't leave you, and he will love you. Truly love you, not what you think love is composed of. He will give you everything, even I can see that and I have met him once. He will never be ashamed of what the two of you share." then, even more softly, she said. "He is not your family. He will not use you."

"But I don't know him." such a pitiful excuse now. How long was it going to take for her to let go and realize this was going to go forward whether she fought or not. And she was hurting him by fighting, she realized that now.

She would try.

"Then use your tests to get to know him. Use them for your advantage." softly she stroked her hair. "I know when love is staring me in the face, Beck. Don't you?"

No, she didn't. Because her family had only taught her that if you loved, you died inside.

Rebecca didn't know if she had anything left in her to give to get killed.


	27. Just Need You To Need To Love Me

**Told you I would make it up to you!**

**Kalin's POV**

"You know that stalking is illegal, right?" the voice made me stiffen, and very slowly turn to its source. My sister stood there, leaning against a tree, as beautiful as I remembered her being, as beautiful as our goddess herself.

"Isn't that what you are doing to me?" I inquired, wondering what ground we stood on after all this time. My sister and I had been so close once upon a time, she had practically raised me after father had died and mother too.

"Its not stalking when the person you are looking for is avoiding you." the words were soft, no accusation in them. "I saw the note you left Rebecca. 'I will come only when you call,' nice words."

"I wanted her to decide when she wants to see me." I said in my own defense. I could not believe this is the conversation we were having while standing a yard or so away from Becca's house, and especially since we were in the woods at night and we hadn't seen each other in so long.

"Too bad she doesn't understand what those words mean." she shrugged, looking like a goddess with sun-kissed skin wearing a blue tank top with black hip huger jeans. She fit into this era easily, where I struggled. She began to take step towards me, her sneakers not making a single sound of the forest floor. "So, why were you avoiding me, exactly?" her voice held only slight interest, but I knew her better than that. I had hurt her, deeply, and suddenly I regretted it.

"I didn't know if you wanted to see me."

"Why would you think that Kalin!" she yelled, and I blinked, taking a step back. "Why would you think that when you are my brother and we have not seen each other in so long! I was seeking you out, Kalin!"

"I thought it was to kick my ass over what happened with Becca." and just like that, from one moment to the next, she was in front of me,grabbing me by the ear and forcing me to the ground with it.

"Ow! Owowowowowowowowwwww! Let me go!" I wailed like a little four year old. Goddamnit, how was she still managing to treat me like a child!

"Not unless you apologize to me for avoiding me and hurting me! And apologizing for making me explain all of those thing to Becca when you should have! And you should have known better than to leave her own her like that, I don't care what happened!" she interjected when I went to explain. "I know I taught you better than that!" she gaze my ear a good pull for emphasis, and I wailed again. God, Becca was going to think that someone was being murdered in her woods.

"Sis, stop! Becca is going to hear!"

"No, she wont!"

"Yes, she will!"

"Well then stop being so loud!"

"Not like I can help it when you are about to tear my ear out and spill my brains for the animals to eat." she suddenly let go, but I could tell by her stiff posture that she was still in no way appeased.

"Well then be thankful that I don't spill your brains and that I did you a favor and made sure your Bride had a nice drugged drink a little earlier so that I could have a chat with you alone."

Had she really just said she drugged Becca?

"Uh, how did you manage that?"

"Not hard when I know what she likes to drink before she settles down for the night." it seemed like a unimportant conversation to her, so I had to let it go.

"Why are you so angry with me, anyway?" I demanded.

"Why? Maybe because you hurt that woman in there, there is one good reason. And maybe because you have hurt me, when I have been there for you more than anyone else has. Maybe because our whole clan thinks you are dead because they heard rumors that not only had you found your bride, but then that you had been captured by the Grit's, and then, nothing. Not a single word. You do not come back to clan, and I cannot seem to get you stand still for two fucking minuet to have a word with you!"

"Well I am sorry if I was not ready to face you all!" I bellowed back at her, forcing her to silence. "You think I didn't want to see you? Do you think I didn't want to go back to clan, and see what had become of it? What the hell do you think I want, Fortis? I want to go home, but I cannot because the very person I love is in that house, I will do all I can to win her."

"You are our king, Kalin!"

"And she is your queen! And until I am worthy of her I will NOT come home! I will not allow her to be by herself! I will not allow myself to relax a moment until all of those haunted memories are gone from her eyes and she welcomes me into her life because she loves me also!" with a growl a spun around, pacing, rubbing my hands over my face.

"I didn't need you to fucking rub my failures in my face Fortis, I am very well aware of them on my own, thank you. It was so nice to see you, I am going now."

"Kalin, wait-"

"Don't you dare," I growled, not even turning to look back at her. I went towards the house, not caring if I scared the hell out of the other woman that was in the house. I needed Becca, and goddamn I was going to make it so that she would need me too!

Even if it killed me.


	28. The Broken Family

Rebecca yawned, her mind trying to come awake as surely as the rest of her body was, but it felt like thick cobwebs were resting over it, making her thinking process slow, when it was even there at all. What had happened last night? She and Beth and talked while she had had drank one of the many teas she liked to have sometimes before she went to bed. But half way into the drink she had felt . . . what? Tired? No, the word did not quite cover it. It was like she was . . . slowly shutting down. Her body began to feel sluggish, useless. Her mind became blurry, spacious, she found it hard to focus on what Beth was saying, found it even harder to form and hold a response in her mind. She had eventually gave in and went to bed, worried about what was wrong with her but the main thought was that all she needed to do is lay down, close her eyes, and everything would be fine.

But she also had a horrible taste in her mouth. It reminded her of when she had to have surgery once when she was a child. The gas had the same affect on the mind, completely knocking it out without the person realizing what was happening. And when you awoke, without a single dream or thought to gauge the passage of darkness and time, your brain was thick with cobwebs and it was hard to pull yourself back to reality. There was also that taste, that horrible taste on the back of your tongue that was even worse than the taste when you had a really bad nap.

Speaking of, what time was it? Early? Late? Surely Beth would have come and woken her if it were late, so that had to mean it was early, right? She tried to pry her eye lids open, but they were resiting. And why fight them? If it were early she should just go back to bed and sleep more, even though she felt gritty and almost . . . violated. Her body and mind didn't like this feeling, but she was not aware enough to actually pull up reasons as to why she felt this way.

_Just check the time, then you can do back to sleep and sort all of this out later_. Her mind reasoned with her. Or maybe she would wake up later and she would not feel like this at all and she could just push it away as a bad dream. Yeah, sounded like a sound plan.

She was still laying on her right side, on the right side of the bed where she had collapsed, and with a moan, she forced her body to roll over, laying on her back. Her arm flopped, coming into contact with something hard.

Wait, hard?

And whatever she touched, moaned.

With a scream that was more air than noise, she jerked up, barley managing to avoid falling off the bed in her panic. Her heart hammering in her chest, she turned her gaze . . .

To find Kalin sleeping beside her.

She blinked, several emotions swirling through her at once. None of which she would name.

"Kalin?" she asked in confusion, and when he did not respond, she reached over and poked his chest, for he was laying on his back. At her touch though, he moaned again, and this time she could tell it was a moan of pain. She frowned at him, becoming more determined, when common sense said she should just let him lay there if he was hurting. But another part of her brain wanted to know why and to know if she could help him. Because he was a . . . friend. Yeah, a friend.

_Friend with benefits? _Her mind offered and she blanched. No, he wasn't a friend, stupid word substitute. Boyfriend? She made a face, but it fit better. Yes, he was her boyfriend. Yippee.

"Hey! Kalin!" she poked him again, wincing when he gave a louder moan, and then huffed out some air. God he was stubborn. "Just wake up." she poked again.

"Will you leave be? My sister already beat the hell out of me." his voice startled her, especially since she had seen no signs in his body that he had gone from asleep to awake, none what so ever. But his voice was sleep rich and made a shiver run down her spine.

"And why did she do that, oh handsome one?" she asked, a laugh in her voice. But the endearment made him crack open an eye to look at her before closing it again. Good thing, he missed her blush. But she wouldn't back down.

"Because I dared to walk away from her."

"How much damage?"

"She cracked several ribs, broke on of my legs, snapped several fingers, and even threatened to break my nose." he sounded nonchalant, except for the last when he spoke of the threat.

"Scared it will ruin your pretty face." she asked, laughing softly.

"I am handsome and you know it, woman." he said with exasperated humor.

"Yeah, you are." she shrugged. "But do you need me to do some healing? I can call Philip up if need be." At her admission, he went stiff, as if he were afraid to really admit that she had just said he was handsome.

Silly man.

"No," he said, his voice obviously forced. "I have mostly healed, but the bruises and smalls cuts remain."

"Small cuts and bruises, wow, you just admitted your a wimp." She strived for a nonchalant tone, and achieved it.

His lips curved into a smile, what she was hoping for, and his hand reached out and found hers and gave her a soft squeeze, making her heart leap in her chest. A blush spread along her cheek bones again, but she cleared her throat, looking away.

"So why do I feel like someone shoved cotton into my brain?"

"My sister drugged you." it was said on a growl, as if he was not pleased about the fact that she had done it. Rebecca pursed her lips, pondering on that for a moment.

"Was it because she wanted to give you a beating?"

"Maybe, does that sway how you feel about it?" amusement colored his tone, and curiosity. She suddenly felt like they were two normal people dating, just getting to know each other out of simple curiosity and need.

"Yeah, I am okay with it."

"You are okay with my sister drugging you so she could beat me up?" he exclaimed, his eyes finally opening and he sat up, staring at her with disbelief. "Do you really wish me harm, Becca?"

"Oh, don't be such a big baby." she gently touched his cheek with a smile, hoping to sooth his injured ego. She also didn't want to fight, and as defensive as she could get, one wrong word and it could happen. She was determined for it not to end like that. It always seemed to end like that between them. "All I meant is I knew she wouldn't beat you up without a good reason. And besides, it got you into my bed room on your own will, didn't it?" she grinned. "And I thought you weren't going to come until I called, whatever that means."

"Yeah," he looked guilty. "It was one of the things she was mad at me about. Since you haven't had any training, you wouldn't know what I meant. But I was hoping you would do it instinctively." okay, they had just stepped out her comfort zone, time to step back in.

"Hey, would you like to go out on a date?" she asked, watching as his gaze narrowed in on her face, searching for a sing of laughter or bluffing. Then he tilted his head, considering her, then he pursed his lips.

"Are you feeling okay?" was his only response. A blush once again sprung to her face, and she almost opened her mouth to give him a tongue lashing.

"Yes," she did snap, but she took in a deep breath to rein in the rest of her anger and insecurity.

"Don't get me wrong," he said quickly, noticing her struggle and realizing he had offended her. "I am thrilled, I am just wondering what brought on the change of heart."

"It is just . . . well I haven't given you a fair chance. So, I say that you erase everything that happened before and just start over. You know, like a normal couple. We can go out and get to know each other, have fun. And if things go deeper," the if hung in the air, because they both knew it eventually would. "Then I am thrilled to go there."

"What about your tests?" he was smiling now though, true joy in his face. It made her heart being to pound all over again, and she managed a small smile in return.

"I will drag those out along the way."

"Meaning you have no idea what they are."

Damnit! She blushed again!

"So?" again, she was defensive, and again she tried to reign herself back in. But then she caught a glimpse of the clock and shrieked.

"Its noon!"

Slowly, he turned to look at the clock at his side on the bedside table. He blinked at it. "So it is."

"Oh god!" she wailed and leapt from the bed, the blanket getting caught around her ankle and causing her to do a hard face plant, her legs still on the mattress. She ignored the sting though, struggling free, even though she could have sworn she felt Kalin's strong, silent fingers gently helping her untangle. She stumbled to her bed room door and ripped it over, finding Beth sitting on the floor across from her door, waiting patiently.

"Oh Beck!" she said in a rush, leaping up to hug her. "I was so worried when I heard someone yelling and fighting outside and I tried to wake you but you just wouldn't wake up! And then sex on a stick just came walking in and said his sister had drugged you and you would be okay! And he was covered in blood and I was so worried and I asked him if he needed someone to patch him up but he declined and then he came in here and locked the two of you in! I was so worried!" she said again, nearly choking the breath out of Rebecca.

"Sex on a stick?" the response came from behind her, where Kalin now stood. There was a laugh in his voice that he wasn't even trying to hide, and Rebecca was embarrassed as hell.

"Her nickname, not mine." Rebecca said at the same time Beth said "Of course."

Oh god, bury her now.

Kalin broke out into a full out laugh, and Rebecca found herself whipping around to face him, caught in wonder at the sound. When had he full out laughed with her last? She could not even seem to remember, since everything had fallen apart so quickly.

"Um, anyways," she cleared her throat, averting her gaze when she realized her and Kalin's gaze had locked, and stayed.

"About that date." he said, conversationally, obviously trying to put her at ease.

And she loved him for it.

No! No, she did not.

"How about five tonight?" she grasped her boldness to her, looking back at him, some part of her almost challenging him.

He accepted, with relish.

"Absolutely." then he frowned. "Why do late? We could just have lunch now."

She opened his mouth to tell him something, probably a lie, when Beth beat her to it.

"That is because Beck is going to spend some time with kids."

"Kids?" Kalin asked, focused now intently on Beth now he realized she would give him his answers.

"Oh yeah, her sister is a preschool teacher, and Beck is always going to take care of the kids so her sister can have a break. They adore her."

"Your sister?" he questioned, gaze once again moving back to Rebecca. She swallowed heavily, knowing very well what he was asking her in that gaze.

"No," she said softly. "She is nothing like my brother. She was always kind to me." but he sister had always stayed apart from her, helping her pick herself back up, yes, but staying her distance when the actual act was taking place. She knew very well that their brother was abusive to her, but she kept her distance and only helped Rebecca when it was all over. Still, she cherished even a small act of kindness and compassion.

That must have shown in her expression, because instead of being at ease, Kalin's expression turned grim, almost upset.

"Don't worry, I do it all the time." she said, but she didn't know what she was assuring him of. All she knew is she liked that he wanted to protect her.

"Anyways!" she said, after a long pause followed her statement. It was uncomfortable, and she was suddenly eager to escape. "I need a shower. Kalin, please stay to eat, I will be quick." and she dissapeared back into the bed room and then into the bathroom, firmly shutting and locking the door.

She didn't see or hear Kalin turn back to Beth, putting on a friendly smile as they went to the kitchen together.

"So tell me," he said softly, knowing she would latch onto his voice. "What kind of person is her sister." 


	29. Death Of The Sweetest

**Hey guys, sorry that is took so long for me to udate. I had my mothers bday that came up, and we had to get rid of my baby (a cat, just do you guys don't get confused.) then I had a vacay to go and see my family for the first time in two years, an eleven hour drive there and back from florida to VA. And THEN I had my bday that came up (I am officially 20, woot for me?) and then me and my fiance have to bomb the apartment we live in for four and a half hours at a time so that we can get rid of the fleas which was the main reason for getting rid of the cat. Sheesh, I hate those little buggers. Not to mention my computer decided it wanted to crash and I had to sort all of that out. And to top it off I just havent been into the story. I am sorry to be so behind, I will try to make sure to keep updating at least once a week. I will try to make this a longer chapter, enjoy please! Oh BTW, song today? I'm A Hoodie Ninja XD**

**Rebecca's POV**

My head hurt.

I guess it happens when you spend a few hours with little kids, jumping, screaming, throwing . . . and god forbid crying. I was good with kids, but right now was just after nap time, and all of these kids were hyped up. Not to mention they always acted like this when I came in and my sister was still here. But once she left the room they all would quite down and surround me, and I would play something for them. It was something I loved, watching all of there faces light up and become captivated by the song I produced.

The songs were always sweet and lovely, with just a tinge of sadness and longing. I had learned my lesson from the first time I had played for them. I had unleashed my longing, my longing for children, for a family, for something to care for.

My sister had kicked me out when she had come in to find all of her children sobbing their eyes out.

Zach, one of the kids who I believed had the best musical potential, approached me, calm and quiet, and took a seat next to me. Me and him didn't look at each other, just looked at all of his classmates running around, destroying the room.

"It is nice to see you again," I started off, still not looking at him. Zach was an interesting child. He was smart as hell, but once you put your focus on him he seemed to lose his steam. As long as I didn't look at him he would sit and talk with me, but once I did he would lose his nerve and he would leave and go find a quiet corner to read one of the many books he always had. Books that were not of his age, but then again barley any of these children were on the intelligence level that they were supposed to be.

Out of a class of ten, five to six could have easily been bumped from pre-school to third grade, if not a little higher.

"I wasn't sure it was you, you smell different today." His voice was very low and composed, he had caramel hair that just touched his ears, and he had on thick glasses that only seemed to amplify his baby blue eyes. When standing he would come up to my waist, and I had never once seen him lose his composure.

His remark made me frown, but my sister stood before I could say anything in response.

My sister looked nothing like me, just like my brother, but she had a soft look to her features, showing the caring motherly figure underneath. She also had pitch black hair and green eyes that were like dull emeralds.

"Rebecca, I have to step out for a little while, one of the new teachers is having trouble with her students, do you mind if I go and help her out?"

Did I mind? Was she kidding?

"Course Becci don't mind." Lizzy, a little girl with pink cheeks and curly blond hair put into two pig tails said with a large smile. I smile at her in return and turned to answer my sister.

"No, I don't mind. They all behave well for me."

"Yeah, I know," my sister said dryly, before leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Immediantly all of the kids quieted, but they weren't quiet done playing just yet, so it still left me alone with Zach.

"The kids always love it when you come to visit you know." he continued on conversationally, sounding more adult that anyone would ever dare give him credit for. He was four after all, no into themselves adult would ever admit to his intelligence level at least until he was six. Then it was okay to be a child prodigy.

"You always sound smarter and smarter every time I come around," I said with a smile.

"Intelligence is something I can handle easily, other things, not so much."

"Other things like people?"

"Of course."

"You speak with me."

"You are different, as your scent now justifies, and as your medical condition has always said so."

That made me pause, slowly turning so that I could look at him. He did not seem to take notice if he knew that my gaze was now on him, but I could feel a chill creeping up my spine.

"How do you know about my medical condition, Zach?"

"I am honestly surprised that you haven't figured it out yet, Rebecca, but then again, by the fact your smell has just recently changed, I am guessing the situation had just become clear to you, so I guess your ignorance is not your fault."

I swallowed heavily at his words, my tongue suddenly seeming to take up too much space in my mouth and my mouth and throat too dry to even grate words passed them. My eyes had to be the size of saucers, and I could not even compose myself when, to my ever growing surprise, Zach actually turned his beautiful amber eyes towards me, sparkling with interest and amusement, it was out of character for Zach.

"Is it clicking for you?" he asked softly, and it did.

He was a freaking Thorian. How could I have not noticed this before? He looked no different from all of the other children, and he could act no different at times. It was only his calm demeanor that set his apart at times.

How old was he really? Did he know I was paired to his king (or was Kalin still a prince?)?

"How long have you known?" I finally managed to gasp, sounding like I had just drank a cup of acid and was trying to forced my shredded body to work. I felt like I had been slapped in the face with a nailed two by four. How could I have been around this kid and not noticed anything? I mean, sure, I didn't even know that Thorian's existed up until a few months ago, but surely there was some warning signs, something that indicated that he was not a normal child? His intelligence? No, child geniuses were becoming more and more common. Maybe his speech patterns? No. He ate lunch with all the other kids, he took naps when all of the other kids did, and he didn't going around biting anyone or something funky like that.

"I knew you were a Thorian bride from the moment you walked into this classroom. It is a certain trait of mine, a talent, my mother used to say. Thorian bride's not only produce too much blood but they also exert a certain scent. Granted, I also knew you were going to be out queen when I heard you mention to your sister that your monthly visits for having your blood drawn has been going well."

"I don't understand, you just said that producing too much blood is a normal thing. So how did that set me apart?"

His eyes focused on my completely, and he then smiled at me, a rarity.

"Come on, surely you do not think that every bride must have her blood drawn every month? Some don't even have a problem until they run into their Thorian mate. But no, it takes a good two months or more in order for them to build up an excess of blood like that. And sometimes it will go unnoticed. The slip, cut themselves, bleed a little more than normal people. They get sick, some of their blood cells die, their body must replace them. No," he said the last word with humor in his voice, "having your blood taken once a month is not normal for a unmated Thorian bride."

He was silent for awhile, allowing his words to sink into me. Then something he said really did hit home, making blink, my whole body going tense.

"Are you okay?" he asked, noting the tension.

"You just said I was going to be your queen." I was barley on girlfriend terms with Kalin and already this little kid wanted me to be his queen? He was kidding right?

"Surely Prince Kalin has already explained the trials and stuff that is expected of your?"he sounded surprised that I was surprised.

"No, why?" I asked with an urgency. I hated being left in the dark. What was waiting for me if I was with Kalin? Was it bad? Would it be something hard? Why else would Kalin fail to mention it?

_You haven't been on speaking terms, remember? _My brain spoke up, and I felt all of the tension leave me in a whoosh. That was right, we hadn't really spoken just yet, so maybe he just had not had the chance. God, I was a wound string.

"I see the little ones even take to you." Kalin's voice was low but filled with humor, and I spun around where I sat, going from facing Zach to facing Kalin. He was standing in front of the teachers desk, arms crossed over his chest, a huge smile lighting his face, humor sparkling in his eyes. He wore new jeans and a blue shirt that clung to him, the jeans slinging low on his hips, and with his stance straightening his back, I could see just a hint of skin on his hip bone.

Damn mouth, it shouldn't water from that.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, meaning to sound surprised, but instead I sounded dazed, still unable to tear my eyes away from his skin.

"Well, we agreed to go out."

"Yeah," I said, finally looking away. "At five."

"It is five," he said, looking away from me. I raised my eye brows, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Kalin, it is not even two thirty yet."

"Okay, fine, I couldn't wait."

That brought a smile to my face, hating to admit that I didn't really to wait either. I opened my mouth to tell him so, but suddenly a small voice spoke over mine.

"Kalin?" the voice was female, and I looked over in surprise, to see a small little girl, named Elizabeth had stopped playing with her classmate and was staring at Kalin with shock and delight. So was Zach, now that I noticed.

"Hello, Liz." he said with a warm smile at the little girl.

"KALIN!" She screamed with a laugh and launched herself at him, her little pink dress swirling with the force of her actions. She clung to his legs, tugging on them, looking up at him.

"Kalin! You have been gone soooooo long!"she whined, and Kalin laughed, rubbing the top of her head.

"I am sorry, I didn't anticipate being gone so long." he keeled down, so he was on her level, putting his hands on her sides, her hands on his arms. She looked at him not like a child would to a big brother, but like a grown woman would to a long time friend.

"You finally came back because of Rebecca, right?"

"That is right. How old are you now?"

"I just turned three hundred and fifty last month."

Say whaaat? I barley managed to keep my jaw from dropping. I jumped when Zach moved past me, and Kalin turned to acknowledge him as well, smiling brightly.

"You have grown." he said, ruffling the boys hair with affection. Zach actually laughed, and it made me give an amazed smile of my own, my heart melting. He was good with children, who would have guessed that.

"I am guessing your father finally decided you were old enough to join the other children in school."

"Yes, though he wished to keep homeschooling me for as long as possible, he knew that it was important that we merge with the human society and develop our own identity for when we go out into the world when we are older and choose our professions and look for our brides."

"Yeah, well, I didn't have to go you know."

"Yeah, but only because when you were a child they didn't even have schools yet."

"Good point." they all laughed.

God, this was a sight I though I would never see.

"So why did you choose this place?" Kalin asked in curiosity when they sat down in the booth of an older resturant. It was calm but busy, and gave off a homey air.

"I like this place," she said in a mumbled voice, he face heating for some reason. Kalin raised his eyes brows with a smile, but said nothing to push her.

"So," she said in a normal tone, starting up the conversation while they waited for the waitress. "I thought that Thorian's only gave birth to male children."

"They do." Kalin responded, the words slightly clipped, and his whole face becoming a mask of sadness and pain. She paused, but before she could question him about his sudden change in mood, he spoke. "Elizabeth is a genetic experiment."

"You guys are trying to find other ways to have female children." she verified.

"Yes, we must, otherwise our race will never expand, only continue to slowly decrees as some of our people die before they can even find their brides."

"But," she said softly, suddenly thinking of something. "Isn't Elizabeth ill?" she was sure she was. She had seen her file and saw that she had a condition, but hadn't taken the time to look at it fully, feeling like she was intruding. On some days the little girl would not come into class, but she always seemed to be full of energy and good natured. She found delight in small things and was kind to everyone, even when they were not kind towards her.

Kalin's posture became ridged, and he swallowed heavily, refusing to look Rebecca in the face. She felt her heart sink. Whatever that little girl had, it wasn't good, and considering how advanced she believed Thorian medicine to be, if they couldn't fix it, it was beyond serious.

"What does she have?" she pushed, wanting to soothe him, wanting to know what pained him. When he didn't answer, she pushed again. "Kalin, if what Zach said is true, I need to know."

He blinked over at her.

"Are you pulling the queen authority card on me?" he still looked sad, but his lip twitched.

"And if I am?" she said with light humor.

"Then you will make a wonderful queen." he then sighed, meeting her gaze dead on, serious as he could possible be at this moment. "Liz had cell death."

"I thought that was already something humans doctors had discovered." she asked, confused.

"Yes, but not the way she is suffering it. He cells are litterly just loosing life, because the fusion of cells that we used to create her and not meshing the way they should to allow her to grow and mature." The last words were choked, and he knew he was fighting tears just as she was.

"You are telling me that little girl is dying?"

"Yes, she is dying. The fact that she made is to three fifty is a miracle. She has started schoold before all other children, because we want her to have as much happiness in her life as she can."

"How much time does she have?"

"Hoenstly? Not much."


	30. The Sand Walkers

**Okay, no more morbid ending for this chapter I promise. But since one of my reviewers mentioned it I guess it is time to let the cat out of the bag and let you know I have already planned and began writing a sequal for this fanfic. It will be all about Fortis, from the time she was a child, to the time her mother was killed, then move to when Kalin fell to madness, and then will move to a modern time. Will she find love while searching for a certain something that will help a certain someone who is dying? Guess you guys will have to stay tuned and find out!**

**Rebecca's POV**

I wanted to say something, anything, to ease the look of sadness and pain that had fallen over Kalin. I hated to see him like this, and I understood what he was feeling. The thought of that sweet little girl dying so soon was horrible, and it felt like she had just been made just to die.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but the waitress came around before I could get a chance. I ordered quickly and quietly, as did Kalin, and he did not speak again until she strode away with out orders.

"Are you sure you should be drinking alcohol?" he questioned, still not meeting my eyes even though his tone and posture were a little lighter than they had been moments before. I had no clue what he was getting at, but even if I did I think I would have still asked the same question.

"What do you mean?" what DID he mean? I did not have bad side affects to alcohol and it was very rare that I drunk at all. Having a single glass of wine with my lunch/dinner was not a big deal. Plus, how would he know if I reacted badly to alcohol? I had only drunk around him once . . .

Oh god.

My jaw dropped as I understood what he was talking about. The last time I had gotten drunk in his presence we had danced out asses off and I had just about made out with him. Of course, he was still wearing his muzzle this, his sexy leather muzzle . . .

"Too bad," I murmured under my breath, a blush spreading to my cheeks.

"I assume you are not speaking of the memory I know I just invoked. So why don't you fill me in?" his eyes were on me now, a deep teasing light turning the green to a deep rich emerald of summer leaves, a lot like when he was aroused.

Whoa, veer away, veer away.

"I was thinking of your muzzle." I ended up blurting out anyway, some mis-communication between my brain and my mouth.

His eyes brows raised and a large smile spread over his face.

"Oh really?" he asked, even sounding amused. I snorted, thankful when the waitress came with our meals. But once she walked away he automatically started right back up. "I suppose I will have to google a good sexy one."

"You know how to use google?" was my first laughing response. He looked offended, but I knew it was an air, because his eyes were still so teasing. "And anyway, I don't want you to go back to wearing one. It was just that it made you look a little sexy. A little bad boy."

"And I don't look like that now?" was his only question.

_Don't answer that brain, mouth, stay shut!_ But he must have seen the answer in my eyes, because he smiled again and began eating, eyeing me the whole time.

"And of course I know how to use google." he snorted. "How else do you think I found the school you were at?"

"I figured Beth had told you."

"No, she kind of ran out the door as soon as you were gone."

"What did you do?" it didn't sound accusing, I sounded exasperated.

"Nothing!" he gave a snorting laugh once again, as if just the mere mention of him doing something was just absurd. "She mentioned something about having a date, and having waited for your to wake up she was already late. That woman can move fast when she wants too."

I played with the rim of my wine glass, frowning.

"I wonder who she is dating, she never mentioned anything to me about meeting someone or someone asking her out. I am pretty sure she would tell me."

"Unless she didn't want you to know." he pointed out.

"That doesn't sound like Beth," I said skeptically, but that was the only thing that made sense. Beth didn't show any signs of being uncomfortable around Kalin, so I doubted that it was him that made her run out the door. I mean sure, she knew about the whole Thorian thing now, but she didn't seem to mind it all that much.

"What about Ben?"

"What about Ben?" while his had been a question mine was more a defensive answer. He raised his eye brows in amusement, holding up his hands as if he were surrendering. But that devilish twinkle in his eyes made me think of a little more wicked things that he could surrender too . . .

"I was just asking about him is all. How did you two meet?"

"Why do we have to talk about the guy who I cheated with you on?" it was meant to be a light comment to change the topic, but there was a edge of bitterness to my voice that the both of us caught. I blushed deeply and lifted my wine glass to my lips just so I wouldn't have to look at him. "We met at the hospital okay?" I had hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

Wrong-O.

Kalin frowned and leaned forward, blindly reaching to his plate and popping food into his mouth, his gaze intense on me.

"How did you meet at a hospital?"

"Well, I was getting blood taken out and he was getting blood put in." I laughed softly at the irony my statement, but the laugh and smile died when I looked at Kalin and he still wasn't smiling.

"Did he get your blood?" asked so softly and yet the single question held so much emotion.

So much deadly emotion.

"No," I snorted, trying to sound nonchalant, like I hadn't noticed his strong displeasure. "We are different blood types, and most of my blood goes towards research anyways. The rest of it is stored in case I get into an accident and need some." I shrugged. "It seems unnecessary, but Philip always wanted to be safe rather than sorry. I haven't needed it so far, but I wont take away his sense of security."

"Ah, Philip." he said, as if that explained everything. I raised a brow at him.

"Yes, Philip. He always takes on patience who have special cases." Then I frowned. "But now that I think about it, I thought Ben only had a case of anemia."

"I am sure that there is more to is than that." Kalin said soothingly, and I smiled, before I caught myself doing it and blinked.

"So, you and Ben were never intimate." not a question, a statement of fact. Had I told him that? I could not ever recall if I had told him that.

"Why is that any of your business?" I asked with both eye brows raised in question. But I swallowed heavily when Kalin's gaze suddenly turned hot and hungry and they began to roam down my body, leaving a trail of fire and tingling flesh.

"It soon will be," he assured me, and the scary thing is I believed him. Already I wanted that kiss he promised me I would ask for.

"Uh, well," I was stumbling over my words, because I could think of nothing right now but his mouth on mine, hot and welcoming. A blush spread to my cheeks and I looked down at my meal, but the thought of the kiss would not go away and I could not make heads or tails of what I was supposed to do with the plate in front of me.

"Did you know that is takes Thorian's several hundred years of aging before we can age as you do?" Kalin asked, giving me a surprising reprieve from my pervish and desperate thoughts. I clung to it desperately, using it to direct my mind in the way I wanted it to go.

"So I am guessing that is why the children in the nurseries are so much older and yet look so young." my voice came out a little rough, and I cleared it as another blush crept over my face. I could feel Kalin's gaze on my face, and I could tell he was amused.

"Yes, they have just reached the age where their bodies will now start to age like normal humans will, which is why they were finally placed into school. They will move through the grades and age like you did, and they will build a normal human life around them. Well," he smiled to himself," Almost human, there will never be any sleepovers." I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, but I smiled anyways.

"So, um, how old are you?" I asked, avoiding his gaze at all possible costs. But I glanced up when he snorted, and he was looking at me with both eye brows raised, his expression doubtful.

"I think you should order a glass of whiskey if you really wish to know the answer to that question."

"Oh, ha, ha. If I asked it I am sure that I can handle it." no, no I was not sure! But I would be damned before I allowed him to point out something that would send me fleeing when I was the one who said we would give this a shot.

"You already have a good idea, Rebecca." He said, his voice soft, betraying his slight fear.

"I know you are over two hundred years old. Well, I guess over three hundred years, since I think I remember someone mentioning that was how long you had been under the madness." how much older could he be? Oh god, the math was not looking good.

"If you really want to know, I am over six hundred years old."

Six. . . hundred?

It took me a moment to realize I wasn't breathing.

"Oh . . ." it came out a breathless gasp.

"Yes, oh." he didn't sound pleased by my response. My mind grasped for something to lighten the mood, to get over the age, he looked like he was twenty! Why should his actual age matter?

"I was just thinking that would make Fortis over eight hundred years old." I blabbered, for it was the only thing that had come to mind. "She mentioned she was about two hundred years older than you were."

"Yes, Fortis is two hundred years my senior. But by the time I was born Fortis had already grown into adult hood. She did not age like normal Thorians do. Add that to the fact that she was the only female born and her mother fell into a coma after birth and you have the main reason that most Thorians dislike her. That, and the women envy her because she will be able to live with her immortal child forever, where as they only have a limited amount of time."

"Her own people don't like her?" I gasped, looking at him disbelief. Seriously?

"Yes, even though she is the one responsible for making a potion that extends the life of the Thorian's mate. She gave them more life with their children, and still they hate her for it."

"She mate something like that?"

"Yes, and she is the only one who managed to do it. She did it with the lily that our ancestor used to make her daughters husband immortal. Unfortunately, they lily's grow much too slowly for us to just give one to every Thorian female that joins the family. Not to mention, the one time we tried that the female went crazy. She has managed to keep the lily's we have alive while making a sort of youth potion. It wears off eventually though, and retaking the potion does not work, as if it has grown immune to it."

"Don't you have doctors to test that?"

"We did, but unfortunately our best doctor left us."

"He died?" I gasp, how horrible.

"No," Kalin gave her a small smile. "He found his mate at the same time my father did. But there was something wrong with her genetics, when she got pregnant her body aborted the baby and then she fell into a coma just as my sister's mother did."

"Really?" I gasped, before it brought to mind what the Grit's had been discussing about me. "They were created by the Grit's, weren't they?"

Kalin nodded. "Yes, my father and his friend found them when they raided the Grit's camp. They were experimenting on females they made from tubes, and somewhere in the process they went wrong. Instead of eradicating the sterile gene, they amplified it. While my sister's mother was able to carry the baby to term, his was not."

"Why were they experimenting?"

"They need to create a hybrid species. Someone who can have female children and multiple children like their race can, but someone who can also recognize the genetics needed to have children, which is why the males fall into madness until they meet their female who also has the same genetics." he shook his head, looking sad. "You know that my mother was a Grit? And yet they except me as their king. But my sister, they shun. And they have no clue what at this point we have no idea if she will even find someone that she can have children with."

"No!" I gasped, my heart breaking for her. I understood what he was saying.

"Yes," he said softly, and then explained for good measure. "She is female and will never fall into madness, at least we don't think so. She could start going through males, but she will have to watch him die should she ever find him."

Okay, ANOTHER topic change was in order.

"Are you the only . . . uh . . ." how did one ask that sort of question?

"Are we the only fictional characters out there?" he finished with a smile, and I flashed him a grateful smile. He shook his head. "No, there are many other species, some of them immortal, some of them not, but all of them are allies to us, after a lot of hard work from my father."

"Why can't she join with one of them?"

"We do not even know if that is possible, and they all have different customs than we do."

"Like?"

"Well, like the Sand Walkers." he pointed his finger at her when he said it, and she perked with interest.

"The Sand Walkers?"

"Yes, a group of people who live on a small island in between America and Europe."

"I am guessing it is not listed on any map." I said dryly. Kalin flashed me a smile.

"Of course not. But their island is also divided in half, half of it nothing but sand and small patched covered in lush green forest."

"I am guessing by their name, they live in the sands."

"Yes, in a castle made of crystal that stretches to the sky in all sort of shades of color."

"Why do they live in the sands? Surely it is super hot."

"The forests are full of such dangers that they even rarely even enter the patches unless they absolutely need too."

"What do they look like?"

"The females are . . ." he pursed his lips, as if wondering how to describe them. "The females are all small, with hair the color of tree bark, and eyes the color of the sands. Both the males and the females possess a sort of strange attraction, and when they move it is graceful and billowy."

"Entrancing," I breathed the word, picturing it as he spoke.

"Exactly!" he smiled brightly, glad I was on the same page. "They all have this bronze skin they have at birth, a trait of their. The males have hair the color of," he paused looking the word. "Well, I want to say white, but that isn't right, and neither is gray."

"Would silver be right?"

"Yes, I think it would. Tones of white and gray glinting in the sun and shining. Believe it or not when they age their hair actually darkens to black, and they have these light blue eyes, that also deepen with their age. You can tell their age by their hair and eyes alone at times. Well, they worship both sons and daughters, and they do not immerse themselves in battle, but they are all capable of fighting."

"Are they immortal?"

"No, they aren't. But they do have unusually long lifespans. They also have a monarchy of sorts, with a single family ruling and passing it down the blood line."

"So what is so different about them?"

"I am not sure you want to hear that." he made a face, but he was still have smiling.

"Come on, Kalin. You have gotten this far, you can't stop now." I pouted, leaning across the table, now so close I could feel his breath on my face. His eyes darkened as he looked at me, and I softly blew my breath on his lips. "Please?"

"You play with fire." he growled.

"Maybe I like the heat of being burned." I simply replied. He sighed, but didn't lean away.

"Fine, the strongest woman is picked from the village by the heir, or man, if the heir is female. They have their wedding, and, well . . ." he grimaced.

"Come on!"

"Fine! Then, the bride and groom take a weapon of their choice and have to face off."

I felt my jaw drop.

"They what?"

"They fight."

"You are joking, right?" he gave a huffing laugh.

"No, I wish I was."

"But . . . why?"

"It is a test of strength and whatnot, I never really got into the details. I think it has something to do with the god they worship, but they will not have a weak female for a queen. If she can not handle her own then she can not take care of her husband, or her children, and she will not be able to provide leadership for her people should something happen to her husband. Not to mention going through with something like that shows the true strength of love."

"They sound . . . oddly amazing." I said with a laugh, looking away from him when I realized he still had his full attention on me, and I refused to give in and lean back.

"You haven't touched your food." he said in a low rumbling voice.

"Neither have you," I said, glancing at his plate with raised eye brows.

"Our food seems to have gotten cold."  
"So it would seem it did." my voice had gone as low as his did, and I was now looking at him head on, no longer shy.

"We could always take it home and warm it up." I suggested, glancing at his lips. I saw them smile, but still could not muster up and ounce of embarrassment.

"Oh, my Becca, I have a better idea."

The suggestion in his voice made me shiver.


	31. The Question Game

**Vampireaddict08 – This chapter is mainly for you. You have been a faithful reviewer and I agree, I update at random times but I can only update when life allows me time to write. I will try to keep up better, but I cannot promise that I will be able to get more than one chapter up a week. Thank you for remaining a faithful reader and reviewing.**

**Kalin's POV**

I watched Rebecca as we walked from the restaurant, her body posture open and warm. She kept pace beside me as we slowly walked down the street, the air cool and the night calm and yet buzzing with life. I wanted to reach over and take Becca's hand, I wanted her to feel the buzz within me, how I cherished nature in a way only my people could. But I did not reach out to her, I did not know how she would react to me going for her hand, I did not know if she was ready. I didn't want to push her, I did not want to cause her to pull away. Our dinner had fallen into a comfortable partnership, and it made me feel warm within my chest.

I looked over at her again, hair the color of gold, eyes deeper than they sky itself. Her skin was creamy and flawless, her body curvy and alluring. She never seemed to notice how she drew the starts of all the men around her. She always seemed oblivious as she smiled and chatted, never feeling a single heated glance. Innocence and yet a wicked woman underneath.

"It is getting cooler," she said softly, looking up at the sky, which was layered with stars. I smiled, gently guiding her around a curb when she would have tripped over it. She blinked in surprise, looking down and seeing it, and then gave me a thankful but embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I guess I tend to space out."

"No, it is okay, you can space out all you want around me."

She laughed, a full rich sound. "I think you are the only man who is okay with a woman spacing out in his presence."

"Only men who are insecure of themselves get touchy when a woman does not pay attention to them whenever they are in their presence." I said with a snort, wanting just to keep that smile on her face. She smiled wider, shifting just a little closer to me, and I could feel the heat of her body against the coolness of mine. I sighed in contentment and stopped in front of my bike, reaching for the spare helmet I always kept on the back in case she ever rode with me.

I froze when she gasped.

"Something wrong?" I asked, turning to look at where she had stopped a step behind me. She was starting at my black and blue bike with amazement in her eyes.

"Tell me that is yours."

"It is mine." I said with amusement, and handed her the helmet.

"I have always wanted one, but I just never got around to it. Not mention my entire family would flip a lid if they found out I had gotten one." There was such longing in her voice, I wanted to throttle her family for ever taking away something she obviously so desperately wanted.

"Well, I guess I will just have to buy you one." I said nonchalantly, and looked over to see her giving her the same look she had been giving me in the cafe when I tried to pay for the dinner. Eye brows raised and a daring look in her eye.

"Why do you keep giving me that look?" I demanded, and she put her hands on her hips, standing off with me, the red helmet clutched in once hand.

"Kalin, let me let you in on something. I have almost a million dollars saved away in the bank." she sighed, shaking her head. "I don't need you to pay for anything for me."

"Rebecca," I said in the same tone she had used, and the use of her full name made her attention snap and lock on me in displeasure. "Let me let _you _in on a little something." I stepped closer to her, bending my head so we were face to face, then leaned into breath in her ear. "My family has billions saved up in the bank." and turned back to bank, ignoring her gasp of astonishment.

"Your telling me your rich?" she demanded.

"I am a prince." I reminded.

"Yes, but with no kingdom that I am aware of."

"True, but my father was smart about money and ended up building our fortune beyond anyone's expectations. I have not been around to do much with it, but once I go back to my clan I intend to build up my empire." I said this while turned to wink at her. In truth I just wanted to make life better for me people, and I now had the resources to do so. "And knowing my sister, she had probably managed to double what we had when I went under, she is that brilliant."

"But, you are telling me you are beyond loaded." she said in a strangled voice, then, "Goddamn Kalin, is there anything you _don't _have?"

"You," the word slipped out before I could stop it, and my body went ridged once it was out. Shit, how could I have let that just slip? I needed to get better control of myself. I could not go spouting something like that on the fragile truce we were on as it was.

She mumbled something and I felt her touch graze my back, making me jerk in surprise.

"So, where is your helmet?" she said, obviously changing the subject.

"Psh, like I need one."

"Kalin! You can not go riding a friggin bike without a helmet."

"Becca, that would be a problem, maybe, if I were so easy to kill."

"I didn't think about it that way." she muttered, and paused when I climbed onto the bike and looked at her expectantly. "What?"

"Get on."

"Um, I think I will walk." she said nervously, eying me and the bike with distrust.

"Becca, I am not going to do anything stupid." I assured her.

"Well, I would be assured of that except, as you just pointed out, what would be stupid for you is not the same as what is stupid for me." she gave a nervous laugh, and it tugged at my heart. I got off the bike and took both of her cheeks in my hands, feeling the cold steeling into them.

"Becca, I would never do anything to endanger you." I assured.

"Yeah, I think I got that. But unfortunately I do not have the same assurance from the rest of the world."

"Didn't you just say you wanted a bike?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes, but that does not mean that I am not aware of how easily I can die." my heart missed a beat at those words, and I pulled her against my chest, breathing deeply, trying to get my own emotions under control. I could not stand the thought of her dying, but her fear was even worse.

"We will walk, then." I decided, pulling away and taking the helmet from her, putting it back on the bike. She eyed me uncertainly.

"That is not exactly fair to you, Kalin."

"I am not going to put you in a place where you are uncomfortable, Becca." I began tugging her away from the bike, and she followed, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Where are we going, anyway?" she finally asked, when we had been walking for a good three or four minuets.

"My place, since it is closer, and I figured you would like to make sure my tastes are to your liking." I said with a teasing smile. She blushed, looking away, into the night, and I smiled. But the smile faded when she tripped, throwing a curse into the air.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, I guess I am just a little bit tired." it was given with a soft reassuring smile, and then a squeak when I swept her up. "Kalin! Put me down, I am too heavy for this."

"Never too heavy," I said, swinging around to show her how light she was, earning a scream and her clutching onto me.

"Don't be a dick," she said through clenched teeth, but I smiled, continuing my easy banter.

"So, shall we play the question game?"

"And how does that work?"

"Well, we each ask questions, and we must answer truthfully."

"But since it is a game, can one of us win?" she asked cursiously.

"Yes. If on of us asks the other a question they do not want to answer, they can choose to pass. But, if the person who passes asks the other person a question and they answer it, then the person who passed loses."

"Hmm," she said into my throat, and I could feel her jaw move as she worried her lip. "I agree, we can play."

"Shall you go first? Or shall I?"

"You offered it, so it is only fair you go first." she conceded.

"Okay, how many siblings do you have?" Easy question first.

"Two, both older, my sister older than my brother." there was a small pause as the thought of her question. "Do you have any close friends?"

"Several, all of which have fallen under the madness as I did." hmm, what to ask next. "Who was your first kiss?"

"Kalin!" she hissed, and I laughed.

"No question is off limits, my little Bride."

"I will not pass and let you win." she growled, sighing. "It was a guy named Greg, who I met my first year in college. What about you?"

"You." easy and simple. "Who was your first lover."

"Okay, now I am starting to get that you tricked me into this." but she did answer the question. "A guy named Matt, we had dated for several month before hand." and that was all she offered. "Did you ever want a woman before me?"

"Thorian's can want no other than their Bride." truth. "Do you ever hate your family?"

"Why would I?"

"You just answered with a question." I pointed out.

"Fine, no, but they do hurt me sometimes. There, happy?"

"Yes."

"Okay, well-" but I cut her off.

"You just asked a question. Now it is my turn."

"Kalin! That was a cheap trick!"

"But a working one." I said with slight smugness.

"Fine, whatever, ask away." she grumbled, not even noticing she was slowly relaxing in my arms. She was so warm, chasing away the chill of the night. And she smelled wonderful, mouthwatering.

"Do you ever think about us together?" the question was soft and breathed against her throat, and I felt the answering blush in her cheeks.

"I lied, I pass."

"What you just said is more answering that you know," I whispered, and when she lifted her head, no doubt to chew me out, I caught her lips with mine and tug her into a kiss that was full of passion and sensation. I knew nothing that compared to her kiss, nothing at all. I think even if I fell to the ground at this moment, I would not let her go even then.

My little love.


	32. Make Me Love You, Make Me Ache

Rebecca awoke slowly, feeling safe and warm, drifting in that small space of sleep that made the position you were in the most comfortable in the world. She murmured softly and sighed, turning her face into the pillow, and blinking open her eyes when she inhaled a large breath of what Kalin smelled like.

Raising her head slowly, she realized why. She was laying in Kalin's bed, him sleeping beside her, far enough away that he wouldn't be pressed against her, but close enough that they could reach out and touch each other. But at this moment he was on his back, one hand thrown over his eyes, the other laying at his side, slightly reaching towards her. He looked. . . peaceful, but tired, as if this were the first time in a long time he had slept at all.

Slowly, so as not to wake him, she rose from his bed, creeping silently out into the hall and shutting the door behind her. She figured that she could at least look around while he slept, since she was curious to his taste. As she padded out into the living room that led into the kitchen, she glanced at the bar and blushed deeply, remembering when they had made it to his house. She had no excuse for that one, she had most definitely come onto him, his slow and passionate kisses setting her on fire. She knew he hadn't intended for his kiss to turn out as such, but she wanted him with a fierce ache.

And yet even after he had stripped her naked and laid her against the bar, he still refused to take off his clothes, even though she had pleaded and begged with him. But instead he tortured her with mouth and fingers, the coolness of them erotic and wonderful and so . . . new. Passion and pleasure had been so overwhelming, so drowning, blocking out any thought, fueling every response and demanding she take what he body wanted and needed.

She bit her lip, the memory so blurry she could really not make much out. But she did know one thing, Kalin hadn't come. At least not with her. She could have made him, had wanted too, but every advance was met with wicked smile and more torture. Until he hang finally pinned her arms behind her back with one hand and refused to stop even when she was begging.

Clearing her throat she dragged her eyes away from it, moving to the living room, where there was a small blue loveseat, and a matching couch. A small low coffee table sat in front of them, covered in picture frames all showing so many people. There was some of a man she was going to presume was his father, some of his sister, and some people she didn't know. She frowned at one of the pictures, about to pick it up, when something in the corner caught he eye.

Gasping, she went over to his sound system, lovingly running her hands over it. This was one of the best out there, and he even had all of the little odds and ends that came with it. It could reach high sound and keep the perfect quality, and she knew that Philip owned the same. He had bought it as a gift for her when she was younger, but knew her family would take it from her should he give it to her. So he just gave her the key to his small flat, that he never seemed to go to, and let her go nuts. She loved to play the classical's on this, and also sometimes even her own music. Seeing it brought back so many memories, and also spoke volumes about what music Kalin preferred. This was def. Not a system for screamo.

Well, maybe if you wanted your ears to bleed.

She allowed her hands to wander, skimming down to the drawers that the system sat on, and opening them up.

Only to blink in shocked surprise.

How in the world had he managed to get the recordings of her when she played in school? She had been recorded and then they had been sent out, sort as a gig advertisement, but that was before her parents had realized that they could make money from it, so the school used her instead.

She gave a snort. Seemed she was always getting used one way or another. Except with Kalin . . .

Her eyes drifted down the hall, back towards the bed room door, and her heart thumped hard in her chest.

No, no, she was not falling in love with him!

But she did really really like him . . .

Yeah, right.

With a sigh she shut the drawer, then moved towards the kitchen, figuring next time maybe she could make him dinner.

Yeah, and maybe they could make it through it without mentally stripping away each others clothes and eating each other alive.

She opened up the fridge, the tiles cold against her bare feet, his shirt reach mid thigh, and the air hitting her bare skin. She felt delight when she saw the contents of his fridge, one half a health freaks best dream, and the other half full of every fridge junk food she could ever even think she crave. God, could this male get any more perfect?

Reaching in, she plucked out a peach, and then went to sit on a stool to eat it, looking at the rest of the apartment. The walls were a sunset orange, going well with the midnight blue carpet that was so soft she could sleep it on it. There were paintings that covered his walls, nothing expensive or fancy, but they were beautiful and simplistic, and helped with the warm feeling. From what she had seen of the bed room with the moonlight streaming in through the window, he had a California king with a large wooden head board, the sheets were pure silk and were a rich and wicked red. It was a color you could not look at without picturing wicked things. And . . . wrestling.

Yeah, wrestling, sure.

She could not honestly love this apartment more if she had decorated it herself.

Sighing at that thought, she stood and threw away the core of her peach and then washed her hands with some water. But then she could not stand it any longer, she wanted to see him again, her body greedy for the sight of him. She loved the time that they had spent together, but she needed to talk to him. He just seemed to get more and more perfect. He could kiss like the devil himself, he was hot as hell itself, and he cared about her more than anyone else ever had. He took her into consideration with every little thing he did, and it made her heart pound in her chest. He made her laugh and feel safe and he could make her heart pounding her chest with just a smile. Not to mention he smelled like sin itself, making her want to melt on the floor in a puddle of woman satisfaction.

Her list just went on and on.

And speaking of her heart pounding, it was thumping so hard now and she made her way back to the bed room that she thought it was going to jump out of her chest and run away.

She opened up the bedroom door softly and slipped in, not wanting to wake him if he needed his sleep as badly and she suspected.

"Did my home suite your tastes?" his voice was sleep rich and sinful, and it made her jump with surprise and then face him with a guilty flush to her cheeks. She had been snooping, it didn't matter what word he used to call it, that is what she had truthfully been doing.

"I love it," she answered honestly, standing several feet from the bed and looking at him in the light of the rich moonlight. He had turned on his side to face her and had put his head in his hand to prop it up and watch her. He watched her with hooded eyes that shone with love and wicked thoughts, an it made her swallow heavily, her body responding.

"I like how you look in my shirt." he said softly, making it obvious he was thinking of taking it off of her rather than her wearing it.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

"Come to me, my Little Bride." she found she liked it when he called her that, and so she did come to him, but she pulled back when he went to draw her into his arms.

"Kalin," she said softly, "I need to talk to you about something."

"speak away," he immediately.

"I don't want to have sex with you, yet." immediately he tensed.

"Why?" that word was laced with so much hurt and confusion it tore at her heart. He obviously thought it was him, and she found herself reaching out to touch his face, wanting to ease his hurt. She wanted him at ease more than she had wanted anyone else, and she cared about him more than she did anyone else. And it was so easy, she didn't have to even think about it to do it.

"It isn't you, Kalin." she said softly. "You make me laugh and make me tingle and you give me anything I could every ask for. You never push me, and it obvious you love me." her throat constricted on the last words. He did, he loved her, and she did not return the sentiment, but she didn't know why she didn't. "You pleasure me like no one else every could and you want me to be happy and you share every taste with me."

"Then why?" he asked softly, taking her hand, meeting her gaze.

"I want to know everything about you before I take you to bed, I want too . . . I want too . . ."

"You want to love me."

She did.

"And you haven't passed all of test's yet." she said, trying for a teasing air to ease the heavy air that now hung over them.

"What have I passed so far." he was not even going with her teasing.

"You are great with kids, and you can dance wonderfully, you can take your alcohol, and you like the same foods I do, I am guessing you can cook. You like the same kind of music as me, and I love your place," then her voice lowered a few octaves, and it sounded husky even to her. "You make me ache and make me want you without even trying. You invade my dreams, and I love your smell and your touch, and you seem to know just what to do to me."

"Then why?" he pleaded, looking at her as if she were tearing out his heart. "Then why can't you love me?"

Why couldn't she? Why DIDN'T she love him? He was perfect!

"I don't know!" she whispered softly, tears pressing her eyes, because she didn't know, and it hurt. Could she love? Would she just end up hurting him? She wanted to love him, she wanted him to be hers, to share her life with him.

Wanting to soothe her, but not knowing how, Kalin softly kissed her, softly stroking her to ease her pain. But she kissed him hard and fiercly, surprising him, their kiss tasting of peaches.

"Make me love you, Kalin." she pleaded brokenly, tears falling down her face. "Make me love you!"


	33. Surprise

**Rebecca's POV**

I opened the door with a sigh, feeling tired to my bones but every single one of my molecules singing with contentment and happiness. It was around two in the afternoon and I paused when I entered the cottage, feeling the air conditioner steal what little heat the autumn offered. And the first thing that was odd was that the air conditioner was on, because it was cool enough that I wasn't needed. But also, I hadn't turned it on, so who had?

My body now tensed, every nerve ending on alert for the intruder. I knew it was Kalin, I had left him sleeping in his own bed, sated and deep asleep. The only reason I had roused was because I had my first gig today, the first in awhile. I couldn't help it, I was going to go stir crazy if all I had to fill my time was avoiding Kalin and sitting around here. Not to mention music seemed to be ingrained in my very bone and blood, I often found my body twitching to dance, my fingers aching to play an instrument.

Speaking of, I picked up my violin case at the door, planning on using it as a weapon if need be.

"Welcome home, Beck." Beth's voice came to me from someone in the house, and I relaxed immediately. It wasn't odd for her to be here, I had given her the spare bedroom in the back, and a key to the place, so I considered her more of a roommate than anything else, but it was odd for her to be here on a Monday, today was her busy day with classes. But something about her voice irked at me, there was a slightly nervous pitch to it, and she sounded almost . . . panicked that I was home.

"Hey, good afternoon, Beth." I responded, moving further into the house and finding her standing in the hallway that lead to the bedrooms, in nothing but a pink robe. She was shifting her feet nervously, and I eyed her with concern. I swear, if she didn't calm down she was going to pass out. Whatever she was hiding could not be that bad . . .

Could it?

"What's up?" I asked casually, moving towards the sink to get myself a drink of water. More of that nervous shuffling.

"Uh, nothing. I, um, didn't expect you to come home today when you didn't come home last night. I am guessing your date with Kalin went well then?" it was a question, not a statement, and she lacked her usually teasing air and excitement. I frowned down at my drink, still giving her my back, finding I didn't like not know what my friend was thinking.

"Yes, it went well. And I spent the night over his house last night."

"Oh, so you got it on." A little back to normal, but she still lacked the full teasing. This seemed more forced. I turned to her, drink in hand,, and eyed her again.

"No, we may have done . . . other things, but I am afraid that sex was not on the list."

"Oral still counts." little less forced, and I smiled.

"True," I conceded, and took a drink.

"So, are you finally going to admit you are in love with him now?"

THAT had me spewing my water all over the floor and table. Usually, she would have laughed, but instead, her lips set into a mulish line.

"Where the hell did that come from?" I gasped, coughing and and sputtering, my eyes watering and my wind pipe burning from the water I had accidentally inhaled.

"It came from the fact you are obviously in denial."

"God, now you sound like Kalin." I snapped.

"Do you even know what love is?"

"Of course I do!"

"No, like seriously, the heart throbbing, breath robbing, I feel so light headed but I cant get enough of it love."

I paused, blinking at her, grinding my teeth. Beth was starting to make me wonder if I really knew love as well as I thought I did.

"What are you talking about? I do know love, Beth, I do. I love you, and I loved my best friend who died. I love my sister." but I stopped because she was already shaking her head.

"No, that is not the kind of love I am talking about."

"Well how am I supposed to know the difference? To me love is love."

"If you can't tell, then how are you ever suppose to know if you love Kalin?"

"I don't ever plan on loving Kalin." I finally snapped, and we both froze. I was socked at myself and she was doubtful. "I . . . don't think I every realized I felt that way." I admitted, feeling suddenly defeated.

"Rebecca, I don't want to tell you this, but I think you already do love Kalin, and I think that scares you. I think it scares you that you want to see him smile, to laugh, to feel him next to you every morning. I think it scares you that you know if you gave yourself over then you know that you would be unable to live without him. That you would want a child with him, and you would want to grow old and die with him. That you would give your life to just to see him live happily for at least one more day. That your heart will throb and ache every time he looks at you with that love in his eyes, and that you don't think you could ever part with him even if it were for both of your own goods." sighing she shook her head, running a hand through her hair.

"I know it is scary, and I know for someone like you who has been used and abused, giving yourself over to someone can be terrifying. But you are hurting yourself, but you are also hurting him. He will spend the rest of his life pining for a love you are unwilling to give, and it will slowly kill him every single day. When he says he loves you but receives no words in return, or when he looks at you with all that tenderness, and all you can do is look away. He will always slave to you for the rest of your time together, you will never be lacking in anything.

"This isn't like your family, he doesn't want you because you have something he wants."

"I am the only one he can have sex and children with." I said in way of argument, but it was said softly, weakly, and we both knew I was scrambling for excuses.

"Kalin is a wonderful man, I doubt sex or children really matter to him when he looks at you. He followed you when you ran from him, kept his distance and gave you time, agreed to your silly little tests without an ounce of complaint, and never pushed you for sex. He could manipulate you, he could make you give him what he wants, but in the end he is doing something I have seen few men do. He is laying his heart right there out on the ground for you to do what you will with it, and right now, the only thing you have been doing is toeing it around."

"So what, you think I should just blurt out I love him?"

"No, I am saying wait until you are ready."

"I am sorry, Beth, I really am. But I think you are wrong about me, I don't think I can love like that."

"We will see." she said with a stubborn set of her chin, and I sighed, recognizing that stubbornness for what it was, because the same hard length ran in me as well. I looked at Beth and wish that I could see what she saw, wish I could give myself how she gave. She never held any of herself back, but I always did. From my past relationships, being used by men, and from my childhood, being used by my own parents, it seemed as if someone was always out to use me for something.

Even Philip sometimes seemed more interested in what my blood could uncover than me as a person. But it broke my heart, when he thought I was not near his office, when he would take a picture out of his wife, and he would weep over it. Not small little tears but heart wrenching gut ripping sobs that made my chest ache with sympathy and pain. He loved his wife so much even to this day, I was so afraid of falling into something like that. To love someone and give yourself to someone so much that the only thing you could do is cry over their picture, hardly sleep, hardly eat, and isolate yourself from the rest of the world.

It seemed like a lose lose to me, no matter which way I looked at it.

I raised my cup, taking a mouthful, when suddenly a voice made both of us tense, the water freezing in my mouth.

"Bethie, come back to bed." a male voice called from the back bedroom. It was sleep rich and inviting. Neither of us even had a chance to move, to breath, until Ben walked out of the back bed room . . .

Stark naked.

Our eyes locked, shocked, frozen in time for a single moment.

Then we both screamed, him reaching to cover himself, me, choking on my water, coughing, sputter, covering my eyes, screaming through the cough "OH MY GOD PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" and him screaming, "I AM SORRY REBECCA! SO SORRY! SORRY!"

I heard the bedroom door close but I was still choking, and then Beth was there at my side, hitting me on the back, trying to help me dislodge the unwelcome water in my lungs.

"I'm sorry Beck." she said with a tone heavy with shame.

"Hes the one then I am guessing."

"Yes," she said softly, and finally, when I could breath, I lowered my hands to look her I the face that was bright red with shame and embarrassment.

"How long have you known?"

"Honestly? He approached me soon after the night club incident. And we have been seeing each other for awhile." she could not look me in the eye, she kept looking away, as if she had done some terrible wrong.

"You love him?"

"I think I might. In the short time he had treated me like a goddess."

"Then be happy." I said softly, gently touching her arm to get her to meet my eyes.

"You aren't mad at me for dating your ex?"

"Ha! No! Sorry, but in all the time me and him were dating, what I just saw right now was the most I have ever seen." I gave a mock shudder. "No replay's, please."

Beth laughed, obvious relief on her face, and I felt bad that had felt the need to hide this from me.

"I am guessing this was your first time?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, and it was not bad at all. I thought it would be painful and suck balls, but he was thoughtful and so in-tuned to me it was a little creepy sometimes."

And that got me thinking, would that be how me and Kalin would be should I climb into bed with him again? From everything else we had done together he had been just hot Beth had described Ben. He paid more attention to my body then I ever knew was possible.

"I know, they are pretty good for some virgins, huh?" I joked, nudging her with my elbow. She grinned, knowing that Ben could hear her in the back.

"I won't answer that and leave that one to mystery," she said with a wink, and I grinned back at her. She was sneaky, now Ben would be dying to know how he did.

I went to finish what was left of my water as I glanced over at the clock, and ended up spitting out what was left.

"What now!" Beth cried, leaping out of the way.

"Damnit! I missed my bus!

"Bus for what?"

"Nothing! Never mind! Goddammit, now how I am supposed to avoid going stir crazy!"

"Well," Beth said, drawing out the word as if it had a whole bunch of meaning.

"What?"

"There is always sex."


	34. Screw Lose

**Rebecca's POV**

I sat in the passengers seat, leaning against the open window, feeling my face tingle from the wind hitting it, and my hair beginning to feel waxy from the constant force of moisture. I ran a hand over it in irritation, for I had hoped that by putting it into a bun it would have saved it from wind death. I was wrong.

I glanced over at Kalin, who seemed to be in good spirits, humming along to the radio while he was driving, a slight smile on his face. I wish I could have been in such high spirits, but my mood was ruined by my constant thoughts and by the fact that the obsession of my thoughts had come to my house an hour ago and kidnapped me.

Yes, kidnapped.

I had awoken to Kalin in my bed once again, which was not something I wanted since he had tormented my dreams all night and I had tossed and turned for most of it. I had a headache, I was irritable, and all I wanted to do was take a long hot bath and sleep the rest of the day away. No. instead I am greeted by Kalin, who had packed a bag for me while I slept, handed me a cup of tea, and told me to hurry up and shower.

I was ready to rip his face off at this point, so I stomped into the bathroom, slamming the door and causing questioning shouts to arise from Beth. I did not answer her, but I heard Kalin answer her in a low muttering voice. I did not even try to listen to what they were saying, I turned the water on to the hottest, grabbed three pain killers from the cabinet, and threw myself in. The water scolded my skin, and made me wince, but after a few seconds I relaxed. The heat seeped into my skull, easing away the headache, and messaged my body to take away the aches and pains of a bad nights sleep. I sagged under the water, my anger deflating and my tiredness becoming more prominent. At that point I didn't care that Kalin was waiting for me outside the door at that at max I had only gotten two hours of sleep. I didn't care that he was whisking me away somewhere and trying to be romantic.

What Beth was saying just kept running through me head.

Could I really love Kalin? The thought made my heart pound in my chest and my hands tingle, like they did when I was on a verge of a panic attack. I took a deep breath to calm myself when I felt my palms begin to burn, and laid them on the wall, allowing the tile to cool them while I gathered my thoughts.

Kalin was everything I girl could ever want in a man. He was strong and kind, handsome, and he had a wicked sense of humor. He was protective and understanding, great with kids, and he was so open with his feelings it put me to shame. I wish I could be so open about how I felt, but my parents had shunned that, so I had learned not to. Not to mention I had never seen love like the love Kalin was trying to show me, I didn't know how it felt, what would it make me do.

What if I already loved him and I just couldn't tell? How did one tell with these sort of things? Was it just a switch in the brain of oh, now I know I love him? Or was it gradual?

Okay, another verge panic attack, time to haul ass out of the shower.

And yet, by the time I had finally gotten dried and dressed, Kalin was still patiently waiting for me. His slow smile made my heart pound hard and fast in the my chest, as if I had just been jolted with electricity.

And without further ado, he had piled me into his car (no idea what happened to the bike) handed me a bag of McDonald's breakfast items, a cup of tea, and we were on our way. I had been silent while I ate, but I could only make my way through half of the bag since he had ordered two of everything, and then the questions started. Me asking the questions, and him ignoring me. Every time I would get just a little more frustrated, and his smile would grow just a little bit more and a little bit more.

Men. I could kill them all, honestly.

Which brought me to where I was now, leaning against the open window, trying to ignore him, and my thoughts, and the fact that my feet wanted me to flee him at the very thought of loving him. But I was trapped in a car, no escape there, and I was curious as to what Kalin had gone through all of the trouble in doing. It was a quick planning, since I had seen him only yesterday, and I wondering just how skilled he really was.

Then we hit the woods.

"You know, if you had wanted to take me camping, you could have just dragged me into my backyard." I muttered, hoping to poke some answers out of him, but instead his smile just grew bigger and he chuckled softly under his breath.

"All in good time, my little Bride, all in good time."

I hated that answer.

In retaliation I slammed the little tape player iPod thing into the tape player, and plugged in my iPod. Of course, the first song I played was one from Owl City. Owl City = Man Annoyance. I had found that out with all of my previous boyfriends. Something about them being too bubbly or his voice just grated on them like nails along their skin, or something along those lines. They always threw hostile glares at me as well as threats if I dared play it. I wanted to irk Kalin at this point like he had irked me, but all he did was raise an eye brow.

"This sounds a little bubbly for your taste. What is the band?"

"Owl city," I snapped, even more irked by his comment. "And for your informational, nothing is too bubbly for me." lie, lie, lie. I wanted to shove my fist in my mouth for that one because a large smile broke out onto Kalin's face.

"Lucky for you, I know you are lying, so I wont put you to the test."

Damn him! While I was going on with so many internal struggles he was in a good jolly mood. So I opted to ignore him, biting the inside of my mouth and slouching low in my seat, trying not to think about him, about us, or about where we were going. He wasn't giving me any clues, and he didn't seem inclined to do so any time soon. He was enjoying himself, so why couldn't I?

I almost made myself take that advice, until he started humming along with Owl City. HUMMING ALONG!

"Are you out of your mind?" I gaped at him, wondering if I had caused a screw to come lose in his head.

"Why do you ask that? And why in the world are you looking at me like that?"

"Because I know you own a pair of balls, I know you do from personal experience," _ignore the blush, ignore the blush!_. "So the only other option I have is that you are either really trying to get on my good side, or you really do have something wrong with you."

"I still do not see what has made you even come to these conclusions." he said in a gruff, puzzled tone.

"You are humming along to the band that most guys call Man Annoyance."

"I can see why at some times." he admitted with a serious face. "Some of their songs make no sense at all, but I find that some of them are well played to people who need a spark to their imagination, or perhaps even a pick me up for their emotions."

Now I was gaping at him for an entirely different reason. First, he was right on both accounts, I used it for a mental pick me up and for when I needed inspiration for something I was working on. Most times when I didn't want to delve into my own emotion vault to pull something out.

"I am right, aren't I?" he sounded so smug, I wanted to smack that smile right off his face.

I didn't get the chance though, for the car hit some gravel, a sign that we had left the paved road and entered a . . . drive way? Yes, that is what it seemed to be. A drive way hidden in the trees on the side of the road, covered in expensive looking white gravel. Where was he taking me? The same question for the hundredth time, but this time I was a little surprised. When I had said camping, the only thing I could think of, I had thought of tents and baths in the lake, not the best thing to do to get on a girls good side.

I spun to face Kalin, who was lit up with excitement and anticipation. He wanted me to like what I saw, and another little piece of my heart melted for him.

"Where are we, Kalin?" I asked in a soft whisper, the only volume I could seem to must when I was looking at him like this. So vulnerable, so mine.

"Welcome to our home."


	35. Broken Hearts

**Rebecca's POV**

'Our home' ended up being a large mansion, how could I even have thought it would be anything else when I heard those words? It was wonderful, so beautiful, and yet simplistic as it should be in its own beauty. It was decorated with white and light blue, and seemed more like it was a happy summer home than a mansion that the royal family lived in.

"This house belonged to my father and my sisters mother when they were married. And it belonged to my fathers father, and so on. It is passed down through the generations."

But I noticed something odd in what he had said. I paused on my place on the lawn, which was still a rich green even though it was well into fall, and falls flowers were decorated all over the place. It blended in perfectly with the trees that were already blooming with color.

"What about your father and your mother?" I asked, and pushed on when he said nothing after a long pause. "I am confused, you just said the royal family members live here, and she would have been included when she married your father, wouldn't she?"

"It is long and complicated." he muttered darkly, and stalked past me, and even though I had finally ruined his jolly mood, I felt guilty for doing it now. This was an awesome surprise, even if it did cause me a little panic attack at the words our home. He wasn't doing this to try and scare me away, he just wanted to show me a little more of his world.

I followed after him, feeling a little heart heavy, into the house, allowing him take my bag in the foyer. The house wasn't so big that we could lose each other in it, but it was big enough that we could give each other enough space and never step on each other toes. I looked around with awe, unable to hide it and unable to deny it, I was already in love with this house.

"It is so clean." I breathed, moving from the foyer into the sitting room that was to the left of the door, noting the emerald green furniture and the large fire place that was already lit, offering up the whole room with a calm heat.

"Once a week a cleaning crew comes in a does a full clean." he answered absentmindedly, and when I turned to study him, he was looking at the picture of a woman on the wall by the door. I paced to his side to look at her as well, and gasped, because I could easily tell who it was.

"Yes," he answered before I could even ask my question. "This is my sisters mother, and my fathers first and true mate." yet another weird thing for him to say, but he turned to me with a smile before I could catch him on it, and for a moment I forgot what I was about to say.

"Would you like to see the rest of the home?" he asked, his voice low and husky, and I could picture doing very wicked things with him.

"Are we alone here?" I couldn't help but ask, I craved him, I wanted him, and I didn't know if I could resist.

"Yes," the same wanting glint lit his eyes, but he took my hand gently and began leading me around the bottom floor, explaining this or that, telling me which rooms had been renovated for when they two of us decided we wished to live in the house, and the tweaks that had been made at his request.

My whole body froze at that, and I looked up into his eyes.

"What do you mean, tweaks?"

He smiled slowly, looking me up and down as if he were just going to eat me rather than answer my words, and began leading me up the stair case. My heart began to pound in my chest, hoping that I was interpreting his meaning in the right way and not getting me hopes up. Did he have something done to the bedroom? Chains and whips, perhaps? Snicker, snicker, not that I was into pain for pleasure, but the idea was a funny one. That was one big gag welcome home gift.

Oh, crap, I did not just think of this place as my home!

Before I could work up a good panic over that, Kalin opened a door, and the breath left my body. It was a dance studio, the wood floors freshly polished, the bars glistening, the mirrors so clean the room was reflected perfectly. I stumbled inside, looking around, finding the large sound system with the speakers built in around the room. Everything I needed was here, and the best part? The room itself was built soundproof, so I could also practice my music.

Tears welled in my eyes as I turned back to look at him standing in the door way, leaning on the frame, looking hopeful, and when he saw the tears in my eyes, looking proud and anguished. I made my way to him in some what of a daze. This was Kalin's way, he thought of me no matter what, even if I was bitchy or distant. Even though I said I didn't want to have sex until I was ready, he had stood by me, even in his apartment, he had not taken advantage of my need. He tried to make me happy at every turn, and this was a man I could spend the rest of me life with.

Loving him would come, I just knew it.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, wiping the tears away.

I didn't answer him, at least not with words. I was stunned and dazed, and my body was hyper aware of him. I couldn't stand it any longer, I wanted to be with him again, I wanted to feel him making love to me, I needed to feel him cherish my body that way only he could do. To many men had hurt me, I needed him to show me how much I could love it.

I kissed him, standing my tip toes just to reach him. At first he was surprised and tried to pull away, but I locked my arms around his neck and held his fast, until finally he fell into the rhythm of our kiss, and then we deepened it. It the kiss rolled out of control, our tongues fighting for dominance, our breaths becoming short and panted, even as we pressed more and more against each other. I could feel every inch of his chest on mine, solid to soft, meshing my breasts flat, but cause little jolts pleasure in the process.

"Becca," he pulled back a little to breath, but I nipped at his lips, causing him to groan in pleasure.

"I want you to make love to me." I breathed into his mouth, and with another groan he began kissing me again, more forcefully, taking dominance over me completely, leaving no room for fighting or debating. It was wonderful and it was horrible, I needed more and yet I wanted it to stop. My body was turning to molten lava, already I could feel the moisture between my legs for him, my body readying itself for him and no other.

Then my legs were out from under me, and I found myself floating in his arms as he made his way to our bedroom. _Ours_. He kicked open the door, his mouth never leaving mine, though I could sense the urgency in his body because it was the same one I felt.

But when he laid me on the bed, his head seemed to cool a bit, and he pulled back, hands on either side of me, looking down at me.

"What changed your mind?" he asked, and was there an underlying hope in his words? No, it just had to be my brain playing tricks on me. But I could barley think of the question, let alone the answer.

"Uh, what?" I breathed, trying to get my hands under his shirt. But he stilled me, and it made my brain work a little harder to understand.

"What changed my mind with what?"

"In us making love?"

"It is really that important?" I asked in confusion, because to me it wasn't.

He looked at me in surprise, pulling back a little bit.

"Yes, it matters."

"Why?"

"Becca," it was a growled warning, but it made my skin crawl with anticipation.

"I want you." I breathed, trying to touch him again. But for some reason he pulled away from me completely.

"You want me." he said flatly.

"Yeah, I do."

"That is all?"

"Yes, I am sorry if you were hoping I would say something else."

but he gave a bitter laugh at my words.

"Sorry?" he asked. "No you are not sorry. You love me. I know you do, I can see it in your eyes sometimes when you look at me. I know how you feel, but you keep running away, and you keeping hurting us both in the process. I have followed you, chased you, taken you hits when you gave them and said not a word in pain or reprimand." he gave another bitter laugh. "I love you to freaking death, Becca. Not because you are my Bride, but because of who you are. But I am starting to realize that no matter how much I love you, you will never allow yourself to love me until it is too late."

and with that he stalked from the room, leaving me gaping and stunned.

"Your a dick!" was all I could think to scream after him, and I heard the answering slam of a door somewhere else in the house.

Damn, I had gone from bad mood, to good mood, and now right back again.

"Well, screw you!" I muttered under my breath and stalked from the house, planning on exploring the grounds until I wasn't angry enough to but his balls on the clean white walls!


	36. My Bleeding Heart

**Authors Note:**

**To all my readers, my skimmers, and the people to whom shall not be named because this story is a guilty pleasure ;) I apologize profusely for being so behind on my chapters but unfortunately the last two months have been chock full of events at the my job leaving me no spare time when I got off and due to the new puppy all I have been doing on my days off is trying to catch up on the sleep she robs me of. I will try to stay up to date for now own, and I would like to thank everyone who had read and commented, even though I have been behind ^_^ You guys gave me motivation to make time no matter what. Now, lets catch up to Rebecca and Kalin shall we?**

Rebecca was beyond furious.

As she stormed through Kalin's home – _his _home, dammit, she refused to share anything with him right now – all she could think was how pissed off she was at him at this very moment. More pissed than she had ever been at anyone in her entire life. She felt like he baited her and then pulled away at the last moment. She had been ready to go all the way, to give him everything, even though she didn't feel like she loved him. So damn him for pulling away, all because she had said what, that she wanted him? Was that so bad? Had he really been expecting a declaration of love?

That made Becca stop randomly in the middle of the hall, biting her lip. Yeah, he probably had been, since she had made it perfectly clear she wouldn't be sleeping with him unless she loved him. But she had just been so overwhelmed, with the house, with him, with Beth's words, and her body's own nagging needs. Now that she looked back she thought she had done it more on impulse than anything else. Was that really fair of him?

Damn him! Now she couldn't even be mad at him because her mind had to be all stupid and logical about stuff!

She sighed, leaning on the wall, listening to this large house, hoping she would hear something to tell her what Kalin was doing. Was he upset? No doubt he was, but would he be able to get over it so they could continue on their relationship? Or had she actually pushed him to a limit that he wasn't willing to step beyond? She was his bride, so he couldn't back away from her like that?

Suddenly she wasn't so sure. Every person had their limits, had she snapped his without even realizing it? Had she led him on, only to shoot him down in a blaze of flames in a moment of passion he thought was more?

Now _she _felt like she should kick her own ass.

But she was also worried that things would never be the same between them.

Faintly, from somewhere in the house, she could hear the rumble of his voice, and guessed he was talking to someone on the phone. Who?

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and it made her stomach grip in sickness and made her want to cry. With his body hard and aroused for her, could Kalin get someone else to satisfy his need?

The thought made her push away from the wall, her anger returning, even though the thought wasn't warranted, and it dried the tears that had threatened to fall down her cheeks like rain. She picked up a fast pace again, and without second thinking it, took a turn for the front door, even though it was close to thanksgiving, and the air was cold and nipping at the skin. As she stepped out, there was no wind, so the cold just lingered on her skin, stealing her heat and making her body steam.

She did not pause, but made a beeline for the woods, needs to feel enclosed and have somewhere private to cry her eyes out when this anger finally wore off and she realized the depth of this situation.

But as she stepped beyond the border of the trees, she felt the presence she should have detected from afar, a presence that made her skin crawl and goose bumps rise that had nothing to do with the cold. And before she could so much as scream, to hope Kalin heard her, a hard hand smacked over her mouth and the foul taste of chloroform filled her mouth.

**Kalin's POV**

"I bed your fucking PARDON!" I bellowed into the phone, my voice so loud it would probably echo in the house and reach Becca wherever she now was. I ignored the urge to go look for her, to apologize, because I was honestly at my ropes end. Everything I found in her she did not find in me.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" my sisters voice whipped out from the other end of the phone, grating on my nerves, which were already shredded.

"Oh, then how should I speak to you since you just said it was ALL. MY. FAULT!"

"Because it was your fault you stupid oaf!"

"How the hell was all of this MY fault!"

"Because if you had called me like I had told you too then none of this would have happened!"

"Oh, yes, because one simple phone call would have fixed EVERYTHING! You are SO right, sister!"

"Don't make me come down there and whip your ass like the little kid you are acting like." the threat was spoken so low it actually gave me chills. My sister's ass kicking's always hurt like hell, and she never made a bluff.

"Fine, wow me with your news, oh mighty one." I sneered at her, pacing in my the office I occupied, the contents that were once all nice and neat all scattered all over the place, and I was constantly stepping on them as I moved. All of this and I was still not any calmer, my body tight with an aching need that only one woman could assuage and would not assuage.

"I am going to ignore that," she snorted, then took a deep breath that sounded more like a sigh than anything else. "I stole her medical records and took a look at them."

"And?" suddenly I was all attention, even if I was pissed at my bride, I was still worried for her welfare. And if my sister was bringing up her files, then something wasn't right.

"Many doctors besides the one she has now have done tests on her, and every one of them have come out . . . odd."

"That is normal." I dismissed.

"No, this isn't. Most of our brides could pass for human when tests were done, even our queens. The only thing that should set them apart is a slight mutation in the their genes and the increased amount of blood."

"What about hers?"

"Like I said, every single test that was done came up with abnormal results. She doesn't have one gene mutation but several. Her mental tests are off the charts, and don't even get my started on her body."

That actually made me smile.

"That just sounded like a sexual comment, sister."

"If your girl wasn't taken I would so swing her way." she said without pause,even though the both of us knew her body laid dormant until she found her mate. One she thought she was never going to find. The thought made me frown, would my sister get so lonely she would do what Becca did, and have sex even though the, pain was extreme?

"Hey, sis." I said tentative.

"Yeah?" she sounded distracted, and I could tell she had her nose stuffed into Becca's medical file and everything that came with it.

"Don't rush it, okay?" I said kind of awkwardly, stumbling over my words because I wasn't really sure what to say.

"What?" she sounded surprised. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, with a guy."

"Oh, no, nonononononono we are so not getting into that. No, nope, shut up, moving on." did she sound panicked?

"I was just saying . . ."

"And I AM saying we are not having this conversation. ANYWAYS! Something isn't right with her, Kalin."

I bristled at that.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Another sigh.

"I mean she is like no other Thorian female I have come in contact with. Something is actually interfering with her Thorian genes."

"Like what?"

"Several other mutations that are in her genes, like I said. They are kind of balancing out the instincts that lay with the Thorian genes."

"So you are saying . . ." I ventured, not really sure what she was saying.

"Geeze," she huffed. "I am saying that this IS your fault, because right now she is not a Thorian female. These genes basically lock away certain attributes."

"Like?"

"Like, her emotions. She CAN'T love Kalin, she can't even hate. She had the perfect little puppet, perfectly engineered that no matter what she can do what she is told and have no argument."

"I don't understand who could have done this." I said, rubbing my face, wondering what this meant for me and my little bride.

"There is only one who I could think could do something like this. It is perfect, Kalin, not a single gene more mutated than need be. And not a single one is out of place."

"What are you saying?" my hackles were raising, I had a feeling I knew what she was getting at. Fear was gripping me.

"Kalin, she had to have been tweaked from when she was conceived onto when she was born." my sister now sounded grim. "The more I look at it, the more and more that it fits together and makes sense."

"Spit it out!" I yelled, my heart pounding, my palms sweating, I was gripping the phone so hard I was at the point of breaking it into little pieces.

"Only the Grits could have done this handy work. Meaning they wont let her go easy, and they will always make sure to know where she was at all times. And you and I both know every layer of protection we ever put on that girl will have done nothing to keep them away."

"God dammit!" I hissed, slumping down into a chair.

"Right now you should be safe, since you are on the property, and we both know the Grit's can't stand that place."

"Yeah, because this is where the flowers bloomed." I echoed, feeling suddenly so tired and so stupid.

"Just rest brother, and don't worry about your bride." my sister still sounded so grim. "I will figure it out."

"I hope so," I said numbly. Because if not, what would happen to me and my little Becca?

I would kill them all to keep her safe if I had too.

But how could I get her to give me a heart they never wanted her to have?

For the second time in my life, I wanted to weep.

**I will try to update once or twice over the thankgiving break, so count on a chapter or two then! Enjoy!**


	37. Im Calling You

**Hey guys, I have an admission to make. The reason I am falling behind on my chapters is because I am writing a book I plan to try and put up on amazon . so, if it does happen I guess I will let you know. I will be making this an extra long chapter to make up for missing, so hope you enjoy it ^_^**

**Rebecca POV**

I was groggy and my head hurt, like when I had a drinking contest with the guys down at the bar and woke up in my own bed without knowing how I got there. It was a throbbing aching pound that made you feel like your whole head was moving with each pound. I also had a horrible taste in my mouth, and some of my body was sore like I had either been dragged or thrown over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I squirmed slightly, hiding the moan of discomfort between tightly closed lips, knowing that even though I was groggy and I couldn't remember much at this moment, feeling like this wasn't a good sign. Neither was the fact that ever nerve ending in my body was on high alert, and the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end. I found my wrists bound over my head with rope that itched and chafed like hell, but gave me enough leeway to kneel. The floor was cold on my legs, but the air around me was even colder, reminding me that I had decided to go on a walk of the grounds, and someone had taken me. It was in the middle of the fall, thanksgiving was almost here, and soon it would fall into winter and the world would be swallowed in cold and snow.

Why wasn't I shaking? Where was I? At the sound of shuffling material, I decided to take a chance and open up my eyes, but only a crack, enough to see what was going on. So that is what I did, ever so slowly, only to find that even opening my eyes had been useless, I was in pitch black, not a single shaft of light to guide me. I blinked, an instinctual reaction, as if that would somehow help, and froze when once again I heard the sound of shuffling material somewhere in front of me. I didn't know if the Grit's could see in the dark, but it was only logical that they were the ones who had yet again taken me. I leaned forward, straining my eyes to listen for the smallest of sounds to help me along.

It was then I heard the squeaking. Instead of freaking out I sighed, somehow knowing that the rats wouldn't bother me. And it didn't give me anything to tell me WHERE I was, some cave or something? I mean with the extensive woods around the grounds there had to some caves and whatnot. Go figure I just happened to get kidnapped by the one guy who knew where they were.

It was then I heard the shuffling of feet on stone, and for a fleeting moment, I was frozen, caught between the urge to continue to play dead or face the person who had kidnapped me. The chicken side of me was just getting the better, when the light came around the corner and blinded me. Blearily, I blinked, turning my face away, trying to get used to it so suddenly even though my eyes screamed and watered in protest.

"I see you are awake," that familiar female voice said, the one that I head heard when I was in the last facility. When I was finally able to focus on her, she was kneeling in front of me, working on what looked to be a burnt out fire pit. Looking up I noticed a small crack in the ceiling that let the smoke out. It must have only gone out recently.

Looking at the woman though revealed nothing fruitful at all. She wore a elegant mark of blue and white, a ceramic face that almost seemed to portray spirits. She wore a black cloth over the back of her head, hiding what color her hair was, and she even wore an all black garb and gloves, though I did get the impression of long elegant fingers underneath the black material. Under her nimble hands the fire sparked back to life, offering me warmth and closure. It was then that I found my voice.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?"I asked, though my voice didn't sound as bold as I was hoping it would have. It didn't sound meek either, but I wasn't fooling anyone with my lack of confidence. The woman laughed, a full rich sound, and I blinked, wondering how she could laugh when she had a prisoner mere feet in front of her. But then again, she was Grit, and if what Fortis had told me was anything to go off of, then this was a normal thing for them.

"My dear Rebecca," she tsked at me, I felt like biting her hand on blowing a raspberry, but I refrained from both only to keep my dignity. "Surely you have figured out something yet?"

"I know you want me because you want me to bear Kalin's child." I offered, trying to make it sound like that wasn't the only thing that I knew. But she laughed again, I knew immediately that there was no fooling this woman.

"Well, yes, but tell me, Little Bride, do you know why?"

That name had me bristling, all of me tensing.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." I grited out, unable to bear hearing the name that Kalin called me with so much affection rolling off of her tongue in such an easy way. Then it struck me, Kalin! Did he know I was gone? Did he know I had been taken or did he think that I had run away on my own accord? Oh, the heartache he must be feeling!

She tilted her head at me, as if my response surprised her, and then she spoke again.

"Well, do you?"

"Why do it matter?" I hissed, but she would not be deterred.

"Then I shall tell you." she said, pulling a large hunting night from the belt around her waist. It glinted in the firelight, and I felt my eyes grow wide and my body tried to lean more away from her, not liking the idea of that knife coming any closer that it already was.

"You see, you are very special to us. Not just because you are mated to the head of our enemy, but because you can also help our race in becoming more superior than they ever are or will be."

"You said 'our' I am not part of your race!" I sputtered, watching her carefully for any sudden movements. What she was saying was only halfway sunken in, my brain was more focused on the present danger.

"Your right," she allowed, nodding, and then running her finger along the edge of the blade that seemed to gleam with wicked sharpness. "You are neither my race no his, but a slight one of your own."

"What are you talking about? I am Thorian! I am a Thorian's Bride! I am Kalin's!" and I paused, my own words seeming to take affect on me. I _was _Thorian! I _was _Kalin's bride! My lips parted with the realization and I felt something painfully shift in my chest. Kalin was mine, as I was his. He was mine to love, mine to care for, and he had been waiting for me his whole life, as I now realized, I had been waiting for him. For the first time I _felt _love! I realized now I had never felt it before. I had never loved my parents, nor my friends, nor my siblings or lovers. I never loved anything I did, but some of them seemed to make me ache in a way I did not understand.

Tears welled in my eyes as I felt the love I should have felt for Kalin in the very begging overwhelm me, making tears run down my face. Tears of joy, of love, of realization that I could love.

But why couldn't I before?

The woman went on, not even noticed my change, my tears. And if she did she probably thought it was from fear or hopelessness.

"But that is where you are wrong. You see, you are neither, you are a mixture of the two with the genes we wanted picked out. Think of it like mixing the race of two dogs together to get the desirable traits."

"How can you say something like that!" I yelled, unable to believe she would compare me to something like that. "You can't just mess with people like that!"

"But you see, we can." she said coolly, tilting her head as if to appraise me. "You see, my race can give birth to female children, but the females are much different than Thorian women. We will never be human in any way or form. We have fangs, and we have the choice to drink blood to survive. But the males nor females cannot identify potential mates like the Thorians can. But that is where you come in.

"You see, you are the perfect blend of both races, the product of many failed attempts." the way she said it triggered something within me, and I gaped at her.

"Fortis's mother." I said softly, and she nodded.

"That is a case where the gene that stops Thorian females from having more children conflicts with the genes from the Grit's and instead of stopping her reproductive system, it puts her into a coma instead."

"How many?" I gasped, feeling my heart ache for all of women who were made at their hands.

"Many. But you see, you were perfect. Not only were we able to pick out most of the genes we wanted, but we were also able to infuse you with the blood from the Thorian prince, therefore guaranteeing that you two would be bonded together. Then it was all a matter of finding a couple who would take the embryo and take it to term. But that wasn't a problem."

"My parent's knew!" I gasped, feeling hurt overwhelm me. I was nothing more than a insemination to them?

"Of course they did. They were told that they could raise you however they wanted, but once we came to claim you they must relinquish their hold. But we never had to, you left them on your own and into a place where it would be easy to introduce you and Kalin together."

"What genes did you lock from me?" I gritted out, feeling more and more irritable by the moment. They had messed up my life from the very begging, took everything from me, all for the sake of their own gain. I didn't want to help them, I never would, they didn't deserve it when they abused lives so easily.

"Haven't you ever wondered why you never loved? Why you never got attached?"

"Thats not true! I love Philip!" I screamed, wanting to just shut her up. This was all their fault. All of it. Me being so numb inside, watching as Kalin's face twisting in agony because I told him I didn't love him, _couldn't _love him.

"No, you thought you did, you wanted to because you saw that is what everyone else around you was doing, showing affection. We never anticipated for you to learn to mimic so well."

Mimic?

_Mimic?_

The word hit me somewhere deep inside, and it hurt, it seared, and it tore me apart. Every word she said made me feel like nothing more than a cheap experiment that had somehow gotten out of its cage and everything I did was part of a experiment. Nothing I could ever do would be part of me own, it would always be something they found interesting, or something they thought was an outreach of what they had done to me before I had even had the life to make my own decisions. Everything had been chosen for me.

Everything.

I hurt, and all I wanted to do was go back to Kalin, to apologize, to have him hold me and love me like he did before I had said something to mess it all up. But now I didn't even know if I was going to be able to get back. I didn't know if I would ever see Kalin again while I was free.

But that would hurt him, and I refused to hurt him like that again.

"Why am I here?" I asked numbly.

"Well, you see, the plan was to wait until Kalin impregnated you, and then take you, to see if you fell into a coma, or, if you could even bare more than one child. After all that would make it easier, we would be able to disappear without having to deal with Kalin at all."

"What changed?" I growled.

"Your tacker died."

"My what!" I yelled, my head whipping up to look at her again. She shook her head like I was the most idiotic thing she had ever seen, and explained.

"There is a small plastic tracking beacon planted in your thigh. It was put there the last time we took you, but it seems to have malfunctioned, and we can't be having you run off and disappearing on us, now can we?" and with that she began moving towards me with that blade, that damn blade that was glinting like flames itself, but I was so horrified, I couldn't bring myself to try and move away from her. Everything was mind numbing, so shocking I didn't know what I was supposed to do with it. I needed Kalin, but I couldn't have it.

But then something Kalin had said to me suddenly made sense.

_If you need me, call for me._ At the time I hadn't understood what he had meant, but now that I untangled whatever mess that Grits had put me in, I felt it there, a instinct that burned bright. I felt the sting of the blade on my skin, but I paid it not heed. I had suffered worse, and I couldn't let her ruin my focus in case I was never able to do this again.

So, with tears streaming down my face, I closed my eyes and allowed my head to drop and my mind was float, reaching for the man I needed in order to live my life.

I only hoped he wasn't so angry that he wouldn't hear me.


	38. Aphrodite's Request part 1

Note, this is just a repost of chapter 38 In two pieces.

**Authors Note; Hello all my readers, I have to say that I owe you an apology. I know I am way behind on updating for Kalin and Rebecca, but I fear my attention has been elsewhere, I am planning my wedding, and my new puppy needs the attention of a child. Not to mention my new book. But I want you guys to know I haven't forgotten about you, and I am very sorry for my lack of updates. So, here is the prologue and first chapter of my book (well, one of them anyway) mind you, this is unedited, so there are mistakes everywhere lol. I hope you guys enjoy it and accept my sincere apology. Thank you for everything you guys do for me!**

Prologue

I struggled to breathe through the ice that was surrounding my lungs and making every nerve ending in my body go completely numb. I wasn't even shivering anymore; I don't think my body could even register its temperature anymore.

I licked my lips, not even able to feel my tongue as it ran along them, and wondered how close to death I was. Surely it had to be close? This had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I wasn't so sure. My skin was pale, as pale as the snow that fell around me in a soft sort of dream.

My vision suddenly went blurry, and I felt my body jolt as I swayed and it tried to right itself. But my muscles were too stiff form the cold and from the hunched position I had taken to try and hide from the cold. I landed in the snow, the pain jolting through me as my body untangled itself. As I lay there on my back, I blearily looked up at the sky, wishing I could see the stars through the blanket of grey.

The last thing I felt was the power spark in my hand, glowing gold even through my closed eyes, too heavy to be kept open anymore. I felt a smile tug at my lips, even as the darkness pulled me under.

The raiser of the dead had finally died.

Chapter One- The Invitation

I stared at the little piece of white paper that sat in front of me on the worn oak breakfast table. It was a small piece of paper, maybe four inches wide and five inches long, and written on it were maybe fifty odd words perfectly typed out. I didn't want to touch it; I was looking at it like it was a venomous snake that was coiled, waiting to strike if I so much as stuck out my hand. It wasn't that the paper itself was actually dangerous, it was more of the fact that I didn't know how it had gotten into the mailbox, never mind how it had my name written on it.

Dear Ms. Althaia Brooks,

We are pleased to inform you that you are invited to attend the opening gallery event at Aphrodite's at seven p.m. this Sunday. Please bring the small blue invitation that is included in the envelope, for if you do not bring it you will not be given entry. Please dress accordingly, and we hope to see you soon,

Sincerely,

And of course down at the bottom was some name made to look like it was signed by hand. First, I could not believe they had even used my full first name, most computers rejected the name like it was battery acid and constantly changed it every time you looked away. Twelve years at public school and them never once spelling my name right on any piece of paper they gave me proved that enough. Even the most proper teachers had even ditched trying to call me by my first name and had eventually begun calling me by my dubbed nick name. I often wondered what my mother was thinking of when she looked down at me when I was a baby and named me something that no one in the twenty- first century would ever understand.

The weirdest part about the whole invitation thing though? I had no clue who could have even sent this to me. I was not involved in any sort of art community, and from I could gather Aphrodite's was a gallery for not only pieces of new art but also fashion the owner had made that would soon make it to some runway or something like that. I had seen it when it was just being built, since it was on the road that I walked on when I used to go to high school. As it was, I had graduated a month ago, so I hadn't had a reason to travel that way and had no clue that it was in the midst of opening in four days.

I leaned over the paper, tugging on a piece of my waist long hair, the color of black sable, rubbing it between my fingers to feel the smooth texture. It was a habit I had since I was a kid, and it was a big sign that I was extremely nervous and/or agitated. I shuffled my feet, my socks sliding on the tile of kitchen floor, shifting in my seat, feeling the familiar feeling of my jeans rub against my legs, almost soothing in its consistency.

I didn't know what to make of this. Could it be a mistake? Unlikely, since my name was not likely to pop up in some auto correct.

The phone rang, making me jump, but I when I reached for it, I answered it and began speaking without even looking at the caller ID.

"So did you happen to know that Aphrodite's is opening in like, four days?" I questioned, looking at the paper once again, as if the words were going to rearrange themselves and somehow spell out FOOLED YOU.

"Yes, but I do wonder how you know that." My best friend, Sue, said with surprise in her voice. "The last time I checked, you weren't into fashion, or art."

"Well, I know because I happened to get in invitation to go to the grand opening." I bit my lip, waiting for the response that I knew I was going to get. Sure enough, there was about a ten second pause, which I am sure she used to make sure that she was hearing me correctly, or that I wasn't going to say psyche or something stupid like that.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" Her voice was awfully low, but I could hear the shock her voice. I knew how she felt; I still thought I was dreaming.

"That I just got an invitation to the grand opening of Aphrodite's, one of the most anticipated events since I don't know when?" I paused, as if I were checked. "Yep, pretty sure I just said that."

"ARE YOU KIDDING!" she screamed into the phone, and I had the good sense to pull it away just in time. Now THAT was the response I had been expecting from her.

"No, really not kidding. I don't like pulling legs, you should now that."

"How the hell did you get an invitation? Everyone who is anyone will be there, for crying out loud! I have been in every single art show and program that is available here, and I have been involved in so many fashion classes I can't even count. How is it that you, a person who had not even made a doodle since we made finger paintings in pre k, got a friggin invitation?"

I felt for her, I really did, this kind of thing was her life. But I felt at a loss as to what I was supposed to do.

"Should I go?" I asked, because I could not honestly picture myself among the kind of people she was talking about. Not to mention I was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl (sneakers all the way!) so how was I supposed to dress up and fit it?

"Are you nuts? Of course you are going, and you are going to take pictures of everything and tell me everything in deep detail until I felt like I was actually the one who had gone!"

"Sue, it says dress accordingly, and you and I both know that means posh. For Christ sakes I don't even own a skirt, let alone a dress and a pair of heels. How am I supposed to pull that off?"

"Easy," she replied, but I knew what she was going to say and I cut her off.

"I am not going shopping." I said in a firm, knowing if I let her drag me on a shopping I would not be able to leave until I had tried on every single dress and high heeled show in enough combinations that I would be ready to burn down the store before we were even done.

"Well, fine," she said on a pout, "what are you going to do then?"

Good question.

"I am sure my mom will have something I can wear," I hedged, not really knowing if it was true, but I was willing to try. Anything was better than shopping with Sue.

"Well, can I at least come over and do your makeup and hair?"

"Oh, uh, I guess."

"You weren't planning doing them, were you?" she said suspiciously, and with something akin to horror, as if I had just insulted her religion. Maybe I had.

"Well, you are the one always saying that my hair looks good no matter what."

"You are so lucky I am not there to smack you. I will bring over all of my things and we will go through a full makeup and hair do up. Maybe I can even do something Greek to go with your name." She sounded pleased with the idea, so I didn't voice my grimace at the idea. The image that was conjured up in my head at her giving me a Greek hair style was not a pretty picture.

"I still don't know how my name even managed to make this onto whatever list they were going off of."

"Why question it? Just go with it and rack it up as the weirdest thing that had ever happened in your life." She said with a laugh, but I felt all of my humor fade as quick as the smile on my face. Sue had no clue that he words meant something else to me entirely.

How could something be weirder than somehow raising the dead?

"I am actually surprised," the words came out of my mouth before I could stop them as I stood there, looking at myself in my full length mirror I kept on the inside of my closet door. I wore a strapless black dress that cut off just before my knees and 'hugged my breasts' as Sue had said. The dress clung perfectly, showing the flair of my hips from my small waist, and even showed a little thigh. My mother had pulled it out of her closet when i had spoken to her a few days ago, saying it was due to be a birthday present for me a in a few weeks, but I could use it now. It has also come with matching black heels, with straps that laced their way up my calves, and were not too steep, but had more a boot like heel.

And I was also surprised about my makeup. I had expected Sue to go Nazi on me, but she had barley applied any, just enough to enhance the icy blue of my eyes, she had not applied any blush to my tanned skin, and a light shimmer lip gloss.

But really, what got me was my hair.

She had pilled it up on top of my head and curled it, so it cascaded down my face and shoulders in a shower of black ringlets. They shone several different colors when they light hit them, and they felt silky against my bare shoulders and back.

"Why should you be?" Sue said indignantly, standing beside me in jeans a t, her hands on her hips. While in the heels I was several inches taller than she was, whereas normally we were the same height. But where I was small Sue was full, her breast bigger and her body more curvy. Where I was boney she was . . . attractive. She had green eyes that always shone with laughter, and dimples that always made guys melt in her presence. She had blond hair that fell onto her shoulders in spiral curls, giving her an almost innocent look.

Standing beside her, I was always used to being ignored by members of the opposite sex. This helped, I guess, since I had firmly set on not dating.

"Relax," I soother her with a smile in the mirror, showing white, even teeth. "It was not a comment on your expertise."

"It better not be. I mean for a girl bordering on nineteen, you think you would be willing to dress up a little more often." She huffed, stomping over to my bed to clean up the stuff that was tossed in all sorts of directions.

I glanced over at Sue while her back was turned, contemplating my friend. We had been friends since diapers, our mothers being the very best of friends from the moment my mother moved here with me almost nineteen years ago. Needless to say I hadn't made many friends, since the kids here in Alamance, North Carolina seemed to love making fun of my name a little too much. Not like I could hide from them, since the population was a whopping just over four hundred. Sure, when I wasn't in school it was easy, and Sue didn't make fun of me, but school was unavoidable.

Still, I had dreaded the first day of school, even with Sue there at my side, holding my hand with the cutest look on her little four-year old face. She was so determined to show me that no one would tease me, but I knew they would. After all, who really had a name like Althaia?

"_It will be okay, Al,"_ Sue had told me with a bright smile, showing her missing front tooth. I had said nothing, sitting down beside her at the table in the classroom. We knew all of the kids here, how could we not?

Surprisingly, no one had said anything, but they were all giving me looks. I knew it was coming; it was only a matter of time.

Then it came. Near the end of the day, we were all given a bowl of paint and paper to finger paint, something to pass the time on our first day. I was sitting at the end of the table, Sue on my left. A little boy named Billy and a boy name Alex were sitting across from us. I noticed Billy giving me looks, and I tried to ignore him, knowing he was going to say something, and I was determined not to cry.

But apparently Sue had also noticed.

When Billy finally looked right at me, opening his mouth to say something, Sue reacted faster than both of us could have even guessed she was capable of. She had taken a handful of paint, reached across the table, and shoved it right into his mouth.

For five split seconds, we were all silent, though Sue had gone back to her finger painting as if she had not done anything at all. Alex, Billy, and I were all frozen in shock.

Then hell broke loose.

Billy lunged for Sue, who moved out of the way, yelling for the teacher, saying Billy was bullying her, and that he was eating his paint. The teacher grabbed Billy by the arm before he could even reach her, yanking him from the class room, ranting and raving about his behavior, and how his mother was going to be hearing about this. Billy had been struggle and screaming the whole way, spitting paint in all directions, hitting many of the other kids and staining their clothes in the process. The next day he hadn't said a word to me, but that was only because of Sue firmly at my side, and we giggled together that his mother must have given him the whooping of his life for him to act like this.

Since then she had been my protector and hero. So I had no idea how someone so tough had turned out so girly in the end. She loved fashion, loved art, and her room was painted in pink and reds.

I looked around my room, noting the differences. Mine was painted pastel blue, but that was only after me and Sue had fought over which shade and compromised. I had a bed pushed against the window, sporting a blue comforter and a mountain of pillows of all colors and sizes. A desk sat beside the bed, and every viable inch was covered with books. As a matter of fact, almost all of the room in my bedroom was covered in books. They were piled high on the walls and some were even hidden in the closet. There was glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and what was left of the visible walls. Clothes littered the floor, covering up the grey carpet, and if I dug through them, and maybe even looked under the bed, I know I would find a crap load of Sue's things as well. She spent almost as much time over here as she did at home, and half of the time she never bother taking her stuff back home.

She had kept me sane.

A wave of guilt washed over me when I thought about the fact I had not told her about my gift. Truth be told, I was not sure how she would react if I DID tell her. Would she think I was crazy? Would she believe me? Would she start screaming, call me a freak, and go around screaming out my dark secret?

I shuddered to think of it, because I was more afraid of losing her than I was of my own ability.

And how did you bring up the subject to your best friend that you had found out you had the ability to raise the dead?

"You okay?" Sue asked and I snapped out of my thought web when I realized not only had she turned around, but I had still been staring at her. She sounded concerned, and I didn't want her to be.

"Yeah. Sorry," I gave her a sheepish smile, "I was just thinking about our history."

"Ah," she said with a happy sigh, "and some history it is, isn't it?"

"You go t that right," I laughed with her, feeling relived that I didn't have to bring up the subject just yet.

"So, I have a favor to ask of you." Sue looked gleeful, rubbing her hands together, eyeing me like I was a piece of meat. I inwardly groaned, knowing here goes another one of 'Plan Sue'. It never turned out well for me when she got that look in her eye. Last time I had ended up on a blind date without even remembering agreeing to it.

"I am not going to ask for your kidney, Al." she said with a pout.

"Just about," I grumbled.

"Are you going to hear me out?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips, meeting my gaze and not allowing me to pull away.

"Yes," it was the least I could do. Didn't mean I was going to do it, though.

"Okay, well, I was just thinking. Since you are all dressed up already, and you are heading to the most amazing place in all of creation, I thought that you could look for some hot guys while you are there."

"Why did I have a feeling this had something to do with guys?"

"You make me sound like some kind of Nympho." She easily caught my look, even though I tried to conceal it. "Hey! I am not a Nympho! I just know how to enjoy a hot man when he walks by."

"Oh," I glanced at the clock and grabbed my bag off the bed, hastily heading towards the door. "Would you look at that? I am going to be late if I don't head out!"

"Al! I am serious! You are going to die alone you know! With cats! LOTS OF CATS!"

"I LOVE YOU!" I hollered and basically ran out of the door in my haste to escape the dam subject that I was forced to face constantly. And for some reason, it was a subject I felt desperate to avoid.

Well, I couldn't promise her anything, but maybe I would check out some of the guys there.

For Sue's enjoyment, not mine, of course.

I had decided to walk to the gallery, since it was only a few blocks away for my neighborhood, and I didn't want to have to deal with the issue of parking. The night was warm, so I didn't need a jacket, and the sky was clear with a full moon to guide my way. I didn't need to worry about any crime, since we hadn't even had so much as a robbery since me and my mother had moved here. I used the walk to center my nerves and go through the small black elbow purse Sue had lent me for the night. In it were only four things. My wallet, with my ID and a bit of money; a camera, per Sue's demand; my invitation, and last but not least, my cellphone, put on silent so I would not have to deal with any embarrassing outbreaks.

Okay, so I hadn't forgotten anything.

I rubbed my hands down my body for the hundredth time, hoping my dress was smooth and not bunching in places and making me look stupid. I didn't dare reach up to touch my face or hair in fear of smearing my makeup or messing up my hair. I shook out my palms instead, hoping to get rid of the sweat on them that way.

But it was then that I noticed a small problem.

As I casually glanced over my shoulder, I noticed that someone was following me. Well, maybe that was jumping to conclusions, but they had not been there two minutes ago. It was male, judging by the large frame that I could make out, though his front was shadowed so I could not make out his face. Where had he come from? I hadn't heard him even make a single step.

I shook off the paranoia, or at least I tried. I was heading to the best party of the year; surely someone else would be heading in the same direction. But why was he staying several feel behind me, not making a single sound?

_Jumping to conclusions again, Al_, I chided myself, and took a deep breath, increasing my pace just a little, eager to cover the next three blocks and just get where I was meant to go. Maybe I was being paranoid, but my mother had always raised me to be safe rather than sorry.

A sneaky glance back showed that this dark stranger had not increased his pace to match mine, and that put me at ease a bit, allowing my steps to fall back into their normal rhythm. Surely he would have increased his pace if he was interested in me, right?

I had to start watching more 48 Hours.


	39. Aphrodite's Request part 2

I reached the entrance of Aphrodite's seconds later, and was prompted by the big bouncer in front of the door to dish out my ticket and ID. Glad I had the foresight to bring it, I fished both out, and while he checked them on the list I looked back down the road which I had come, expecting to see the stranger closer.

But he was gone.

Gaping, I took a step towards the way I had come, glancing both ways. Where the hell had he gone? Was I going crazy? Or, oh crap, was my ability now stretching so that I could see ghosts too? Was that guy a ghost?

"Ma'am," the bouncer said in a commanding tone, but I could sense an underlying confusion. I looked back at him, and I could see the suspicion on his face. He thought I was crazy.

I forced a smile, my brightest, Sue had always said, and watched at the bouncer relaxed and gave me a smile in return before handing me back my ID and ticket.

"You check out, please go in and I hope you enjoy your time at Aphrodite's." he stepped aside and bowed with a flourish that made me laugh before I stepped past him and into the gallery.

Immediately, music assaulted my body, making it thrum to the beat in a soothingly familiar way. My heart beat calmed, and my palms stopped sweating, and I took Sue's advice, plastered a smile on my face, and made my way all the way in.

The place was spacious, no walls dividing the rooms which showed different paintings and articles of clothing. The lights were enough to show me the way and allow me to see, but not bright enough for me to want to shade me eyes. The walls were an off cream color and the ceilings stretched at least ten feet or higher, with no ceiling tiles, leaving the metal frame exposed. The floor was a polished white tile that reflected all the people as they moved around the art that was strategically placed.

The work did not only consist of paintings, but clothes, as expected, but also several fountains and a few statues. Several of the fountains showed several naked women (important part hidden, of course) all leaning back and basking in the water as it fell. They all had long hair, and all were exceptionally beautiful and almost real enough to touch. I spent some time hovering around them, trying to get my bearings as well as figure out what I was going to do next.

All of worries about being over or under dressed were dashed when I looked at the men and women that moved and mingled around me. The men all wore suites of black or grey and the woman all wore black dressed or skirts with blouses. It made my shoulder blades relax, even though I hadn't noticed the tension there before, and I began to wander away from the fountains. I would run into a waiter or waitress now and then, dressed in elegant black and white, and they almost seemed to glide as they passed me with trays full of snacks and drinks. I didn't dare try and reach out for anything in fear I would bump them and cause the whole tray to fall over.

Oddly enough, I didn't feel so nervous anymore, it was almost as if I had entered in a zone I was familiar with. Some people looked at me as I pass by, and I simply smiled at them and continued on. Some gave me a small smile in return while some of the women turned away to whisper to each other. I rolled my eyes at that, realizing some people never grew out of pre k.

I moved from painting to painting, looking at them and even snapping pictures. No one seemed to notice or mind, as a matter of fact, several other guests were doing the same thing. Eventually, some people began to approach me, asking me who I was and what part I played in all of this. I was a new face to them, and honestly I didn't have much to say. Eventually I just settled with I was an observing guest and nothing more, and most of them left me alone, uninterested.

But one man would not leave me be. He had a camera around his neck and a note pad sticking out of his pocket, and I automatically pegged him for a reporter. His brown hair was slicked back, his face a little pudgy, and he wore large thick glasses that only amplified the ugly mud brown of his eyes. He hovered around me, but didn't take any pictures, though he did pass a lot of questions my way. Most of the time I tried to ignore him and look at the art, but he would always come back with more annoying questions.

I guess he eventually got tired of being ignored, because he drifted away from awhile and I thought I was finally home free. I felt my shoulders relax, not realizing how tense they had been, and was glad he was gone. I was actually able to enjoy myself, it was nothing like I had expected.

But I should have known that he would not be deterred for too long.

Back he came, and this time he took a direct approach to me. He came right in front of me a shoved a slender glass of champagne in my hand. I blinked in surprise at him, and almost dropped the glass before my hand could clamp around it.

"Hello, my name is Ricky, and I thought you would enjoy a drink." How old did I look, exactly? I didn't say anything to that affect, I just looked at him for a moment more and then sighed, I guess there was no getting around it.

"My name is Al, nice to meet you, Ricky. Thank you for the drink, I never thought about getting one." It was the truth, I hadn't even thought about touching the drinks. I smiled at him, and turned my head away again to admire the painting we were standing in front of. It was so colorful and vibrant; I loved tracing the lines with my eyes.

"Would you mind some company for a little while? I would also like to ask you a few questions."

This guy couldn't take a hint, could he? Still, I didn't want to be rude, so I just shrugged.

"I guess I could use some company, though as for the questions, I can't guarantee you any answers." Rather be honest than a liar.

"Why are you keeping yourself shrouded in mystery?" he shot off at me, and I blinked at my in surprise, my head turning so fast my hair flew around my shoulders.

"How am I keeping myself shrouded in mystery?" Was this guy on speed? He did seem a bit jittery.

"You have no answered any questions about yourself; it is almost as if you don't want anyone to know who you are or what part you played in this gallery." He pulled out his notepad and a pencil, and looked at me expectantly. I sighed again, and took a sip of champagne to bide time to think of something to say. I really didn't want anyone knowing I was from this small town. But once the drink touched my tongue I almost gagged but managed just a small grimace. Good god! Why did people pay so much to drink this stuff?

"Do you not like the drink?" he asked with a slight sneer in his voice, and it made me grit my teeth.

"No, I just had a bad thought." Yeah, he being that bad thought. "Look, I really don't know what you want to know about me."

"Well we could always start off with 'what is your name'?"

"I already gave you my name." I hedged, my fingers itching to reach up and start rubbing some of my hair between my fingers. This guy was making my skin crawl; whether it was because of the way he pushed or just his presence in general. I wanted to get away from him, but when I took a step back, he dogged me, matching me step for step. I sighed, admitted defeat, and glared at him.

"But you never gave me your last name. Or, where you are from? Or why you are here?"

"I told you why I am here!" I ground out through my teeth. "I was invited, just like everyone else. I have no special pedigree, I am not rich, and I had no part in this gallery."

"Now dear, don't make a liar of yourself before you even know if that is true." The voice that interrupted us was female, and was like milk chocolate and silk, utterly sensual and erotic. Ricky melted at the sound, his eyes going heavy, his body going a bit slack. The note pad and pencil even fell from his grip, and I watched all of this with one eye brow cocked. "Now, Ricky, you are not bothering this lovely young woman, are you?"

"No mam," Ricky said on a blissful sigh, and I shook my head. Men, honestly!

"Good, then be a good little boy and shoo." And just like that Ricky drifted off, still shrouded in his little bubble of bliss.

"So, what do we have here, mother?" a male voice joined the first, and it was just as wrapped up in sensuality as the females was. I slowly turned around to face my savior and her companion, but was surprised at what I came face to face with. The female was slender and tall, her body almost willowy, and her blond hair reached down to the back of her knees. Her eyes were a vibrant blue, and her skin was so flawless I almost found myself reaching out to touch it. She was dressed elegantly in a golden dress that molded to her slender but bountiful frame. I felt so lacking just standing in her presence, so I moved on to her companion.

Companions, I realized with surprise.

The man was dark haired and dark brown eyes to match. He had a broad chest and was fitted into a black suite that almost seemed out of place on him. His features were chiseled from stone, his cheek bones high and his lips firm and sensual, even while they were curled into a smile of greeting. I expected to see him on the front of a romance novel, not standing in the middle of an art gallery.

Then my gaze fell to his companion, and my jaw fell open. While the other woman seemed to ooze sensuality and her voice could easily sweep away a man's intentions, this woman radiated beauty and innocence. It was an amazing mix, one that was unexpected. She had a darker shade of blond hair than the other woman, her skin pale but perfectly dusted with a pink glow. She was small; her eyes a bright green, her lips full and stretched into a friendly smile. She almost seemed to glow, her hair flowing down her shoulders, and she sported a light blue strapless dress with open toed matching high heels that were a lot more practical than mine were.

"It is rude to stare, dear," the older woman snapped, and it was then that I realize my mouth was still hanging open, and I WAS still staring at her.

"Oh god!" I gasped, crimson flooding over my face in embarrassment. "I am so sorry; I really don't know what just came over me."

"Don't worry about it," she replied, her voice light and soothing, like the sound of water gently running over stones. It eased my tension and helped me straighten out my thoughts, and I was able to smile again, getting a firmer grip on myself. "I get it a lot, actually."

"I can imagine," I said with a light laugh, suddenly not knowing why I had just said that. But her date spoke up, saving me from further embarrassment.

"I hope Ricky was not causing you too much trouble." He said with a kind smile, and I had the feeling I was any other woman I would be getting tongue tied right about now with that smile. They all seemed so abnormally beautiful; I really had no clue what I was supposed for do.

_Just make sure you don't drool, that should just about do it_, I thought to myself, and immediately agreed to stick with that plan in case all else failed.

"No, I just didn't feel like answering any of his questions." I smiled in return, catching the irked look from the older woman. She apparently did not like being ignored for more than three seconds. "And who do I have to thank for my saving?"

"My name is Eros," he said, holding out his hand to shake mine. I raised my eye brows but took his hand, shaking it firmly before releasing it.

"Eros? As in, the god of love?" well, good to know my mother wasn't the only cruel one in the world to name their child something Greek.

"Yes," he answered surprise obvious on his face. "You know of the god?"

"Oh yes," I answered with a wave of my hand. "I have read every single mythology book I can get my hands on. The love between Eros and Psyche was one of my favorite romances. Not to mention his other name is cupid, and we celebrate him one day a year."

"Really?" he seemed even more surprised. "Even though the books say that he left her with their unborn child due to her betrayal and she had to go through tests from his mother just to get back to him? I don't think I have met a single woman who has read the story who didn't hate Eros for what he did. They all think he overacted, since in the end it was Psyche's sisters who pushed her towards the betrayal with their jealousy."

Ah, see, now we were hitting my territory.

"Well, since that book was written by the Romans you cannot expect it to be entirely accurate. But if you look around you can actually find an alternate version of the story, one that I find to much more likely."

"And that would be?"

"Well, after he left Psyche, his mother tied him up with chains so that no matter what he could not return to her. Telling him that he should have done what she asked of him in the first place, that all she had done was hurt him and betray him."

Eros raised his eyebrows, glancing over at the woman he had called mother earlier, so I risked a glance as well. She was ridged, looking away so I could not see what emotion was on her face. I opened my mouth to apologize, but his companion interrupted me.

"What happened after that?" she asked in that small voice of hers.

"Well, in the story, if I remember correctly, Eros heard Psyche calling for him. He realized his own mother's betrayal and his love for her, and it gave him the strength to break free of his chains and go to her."

All of our heads turned to Eros's mother when she snorted, a delicate sound, but a snort none the less.

"That is a rubbish alternative to the story." She snipped, glaring down at me. I swallowed, but raised my chin, determined not to be cowed by her for just repeating a myth.

"It may put Aphrodite in the wrong, but it is a wonderful story. And if anyone reads some measure of Greek mythology they are likely to know how jealous she could get and how she would strike out. She was the one who ordered Psyche to be up top of the mountain to be devoured by the beast merely because people said she was more beautiful. "

"One case, can you name another?" the woman asked, her body posture clearly saying she put me below her, and her gaze was challenging. My hand tightened on my class as I answered her challenge.

"King Minos's wife. She was the one who cursed her to fall into lust with the bull that was created by Poseidon for merely saying something ill about the goddess. Hence causing her to birth the Minotaur and then go crazy, suffering the labyrinth along with her poor son."

"You feel pity for that creature? The one who is known for killing seven men and seven women every year?"

"I don't believe you knew any better, for he was said to be more bull than human. Who might you be, anyways?" I asked, looking at all three of them.

"You may call me Anne; this is my son, Eros, and his wife."

Even though it was an introduction, she still managed to put so much posh into it that it made me want to grimace. This was a woman who believed everything she did was to prove that she was better than everyone around her.

"My name is Althaia; it is a pleasure to meet you." I smiled at each in turn, only getting a smile from Eros and his wife, while Anne just looked me up and down as if she had expected more and found me lacking. "What brings you to the gallery tonight?" everyone here but me seemed to have a purpose, so why shouldn't they?

"Oh dear, you simply don't catch on." Anne said in mock sympathy, and I hindered the need to stick my tongue out like a child and blow her a raspberry.

"I am afraid I don't," I said stiffly, clutching my drink to the point where I swear I heard the glass crackle.

"Well, no harm done, dear. I am the owner and the artist of most of these works."

"Well they are all lovely, I am enjoying myself immensely."

"I couldn't help but notice you seem to drawn to this particular piece." She nodded with her chin to the painting we were all standing in front of. It was true, I found myself unable to move away from this painting once I had laid eyes on it. I looked at it again, tracing each color and shape with my eyes, feeling in my chest that is was familiar in some way.

"Yes, I can't seem to make myself walk away from it." I admitted quietly, turning back to her with a smile.

"And what, may I ask, do you think this painting represents?"

"Hades, of course." The answer flew out of my mouth before I even had time to think of it. I frowned, looking down at the floor, trying to rack my brain to find where it had come from. I glanced back at the painting and realized it did fit the different hues of red and brown, the blue stillness of the water, the boat waiting idly by the side.

"You mean, like hell?" Eros asked, and I immediately shook my head.

"Hell is where you soul goes to suffer, the Greeks believed that Hades was just a place you soul resides after the fates cut your string. It was just a place to rest before you drank the waters of forgetfulness and moved on to be reborn." But halfway through, Eros began to smile, and I again felt a blush come to my cheeks. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I do have to admit that I don't think anyone has ever explained it as passionately as you just did."

"Thank you," I took the compliment even though it was embarrassing.

"Well, anyways dear, would you like to come back the private room with me and have something to drink? I think I would love to speak more in depth with you about this whole Greek mythology." Even though Anne seemed like she was being sincere, something told me not to go with her, something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Eros shot his mother a confused look, but she didn't seem to notice it. She was staring holes in me, waiting for my response, and I had a feeling she was not going to take no for an answer.

"Uh, I . . ." I was wracking my brain, trying to think of something to say, something to get me out of this situation.

"Ah, there you are, I hope you didn't get too lonely while I was away." The voice was rumbly and masculine, and I felt a hand settle on my lower back, big and oozing heat. Immediately a woodsy smell enveloped me, and I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. It was comforting and sexy, and it stopped me from jumping in surprise. I looked up at this stranger, and found myself drowning in eyes the color of the ocean after a storm, hair as black as night just long enough to touch his forehead. And boy, did I have to look up; he easily towered over me, even though I was five foot six with the extra three inches the heels gave me. He had to be reaching six foot, and his skin was perfectly tanned, his firm lips curved into a smile of affection and pleasure. He wore a tux that matched his eyes, and made him look out of place among the dark blue and black. The material was soft; I could feel it against my bare shoulder while he held his hand against me.

My heart started to pound, and my mouth went dry, and my stomach clenched hotly. I had never had a response to a man like this, but then again I had never been approached by someone with his level of attraction. He looked to be not much older than me, and maybe slightly younger than Eros. I swallowed, trying to soother my suddenly dry lips, but it didn't work, so when I opened my mouth, nothing came out.

"Well, well, look who it is." Anne's sneering voice brought me out of it, and I snapped to look at her. She was looking at my new companion with utter hatred, not just distaste, and when I looked back up at him, he merely gave her a smug smile in return. ,

"Always a pleasure, your highness." He said calmly, giving a slight bow at the waist.

Your highness?

"Don't mock me, you animal! If I could I would smite you where you stand!"

Animal? Smite? What the hell was going on?

My neck hurt from looking back and forth between them, and just when I thought things were going to get a whole lot worse, Eros saved the day.

"Mother, just let it go, let us go to the back." He said in a low voice, and Anne threw a glare in his direction to quite him. For a minute or more she continued to glare at the man at my side, and then she gave a huff like scream and stalked off in a flurry of designer clothes. Before they went after her, Eros and his wife gave a nod to him, and he gave them one in return.

"Can things get any friggin weirder tonight?" I said aloud to myself, sighing and looking down at the drink in my hand. My mouth was still parched, but I thought I would rather go through dehydration than take another sip of it. Just as I was about to give in and take a sip, my new companion took it from hand softly.

"I noticed you don't seem to enjoy this stuff," he said simply, and with a grace at odd with his size, he swapped it with a glass of orange juice as a waiter floated by. "Here," he said with a wide smile that made me feel like swooning.

_Get ahold of yourself!_

"Thank you," I said with relief and took a drink, sighing in pleasure.

"My pleasure," he said with a chuckle, and then turned to look at the painting. "This is a wonderful work of art." He admired, and I felt my opinion of his rise. Not only had he saved me and gotten me a drink, he knew a good painting when he saw it.

"I think so, too. Even though my best friend would laugh at that, since i haven't even taken a single art class in my life."

He laughed at that, a deep chest hearty sound that made an answering smile come to my lips.

"You don't have to be a certified artist to know a good painting when you see one."

"Sue would argue with you about that," I warned him.

"I would love to meet her," he said with a smile, and I realized I was talking with him so naturally and I didn't even know his name.

"I am sorry; my name is Al, thank you for saving me." I made a face and held out my hand to shake his. His eyes twinkled as he took it and instead of shaking it, he placed a kiss on the back. It was so old fashioned and unexpected I laughed loudly, drawing people's attention.

"You can call me Rion, and it was my pleasure."

"Why do I get an inkling that Rion is short for something?" I asked with a coy smile.

"I will spill if you will," he countered, and I gave a suffering sigh. I suddenly really wanted to know his name.

"My name is Althaia."

"Ah, healer," He nodded, almost as if it made sense.

"Yes," I said in surprise, tilting my head to look at him. "You know Greek?"

"Ah, yeah," he said rubbing the back of neck, suddenly looking shy. It was then I noticed he held a slight accent, a sexy accent. "I was born and raised in Greece."

"Seriously?" I gasped, thinking it was the coolest thing I had ever heard. "All I got was a lame name, so you got the lucky side."

"That is all subjective, Agapeemenee." He said softly, with a wealth of affection.

"What does that mean?" I asked, I could tell it was a Greek word, but he had said it without the accent, as if to allow me understand it.

"Ah, ah," he tsked, and then grinned at me. "You can have one question answered. Either my name, or what the translation to that word is, I am afraid I cannot give you both."

"That isn't fair; you purposefully dangled that in front of my face!" I accused, but he smiled, shameless and I glowered at him. "Fine, I will go with the original agreement, I want to know you full name." Because I was going to go home and Google the word, if I could manage to spell it that was.

"As you wish, Agapeemenee." He smiled brightly, and then leaned down closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my ear and could smell the mint on his breath. "My full name is Asterion."

"That is such a cool name," I croaked, and it was all I could manage. His proximity was making my heart pound again and my stomach clench.

"Again, that is all subjective thought. I enjoy your name much more." He finally straightened, but he reached over and caught a piece of me hair between his fingers, rubbing it to feel the texture. He smiled at me when I looked at his hand in surprise. "I could not help myself; it looks like lines of silk."

I didn't really know how to respond, so I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the painting for Sue to look at later, and caught him watching me with a curious look.

"My best friend, Sue, should be here instead of me. I really don't know why I got invited since she is into all of this." I said with a wave of my hand to indicate the gallery. "She had demanded pictures of everything so that she doesn't feel left out."

"You are a good friend," he acknowledge with a nod of his head, his expression serious. I couldn't help but laugh at that, making him frown.

"Hardly, I just feel bad that I get to be here when she is not." Then I looked down at the camera in my hands, then back at him. "As a matter of fact, it is so weird that I am running into so many people with Greek names tonight, I don't think she will believe me." Then I looked him up and down, all six yummy feet of him. "I don't think she will believe you are real either." I admitted.

"Then we should take some pictures together to prove you are not going crazy," he said with a slow smile, and I blushed. But he took the camera from my hand and stopped a passing waiter, handing the camera to him and instructing him to take several photos. Then, he wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me closer to his side, the painting behind us. My skin tingled being so close to him, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. The waiter snapped the first picture, the flash almost blinding me, and I had to rapidly blink to see again.

I almost leapt out of my skin when I felt Rion's breath on my throat. He had leaned down and was now close enough that I could have kissed him if I had the guts.

"Do not be so tense with me, kardia mou glyka." He breathed the words into my skin, and this time he put an accent into it, and it was the sexiest thing ever. For a moment I didn't feel like a nineteen year old girl who was in a place she didn't belong. I didn't feel like I had even avoided guys like the plague. I didn't feel like I was tormented and teased all my life because of my stupid name.

No, right now I felt like a woman, a woman who was being hit on by a man that was hot enough to burn holes in his clothes. Every female who looked his way sighed with longing, and yet his whole attention was on me and no one else.

I turned my head to look up into his eyes, and felt every muscle in my body relax, and I leaned more into him. Another picture snapped but I didn't even really notice. My lips were curving up into a smile to match his own, it was contagious.

"Though I like looking into your eyes, we may want to look at the camera for at least one picture."

I also liked his humor.

Without a word we both turned to look at the camera, and this time I wasn't tense, the smile came easy, and I was keenly aware of the man at my side.

Too bad after this I would probably never see him again.

Later that night, I lay in bed, looking through the pictures I had taken of the gallery. Okay, that was a lie; I was looking at the pictures I had taken with Rion. Just looking at the pictures made me giddy with excitement, even though I could still not shake the disbelief that he wasn't a dream, a perfect dream that my desperate mind had conjured up because I was lonely.

He had been too perfect after the pictures were taken. We had wandered around the rest of the gallery, drawing the eyes of everyone there as we laughed and talked with abandon. He had made me laugh like I hadn't in a long time, and soon I eventually forgot where I was. Half the time I wasn't even paying any attention to the art, just to him and the way he moved. I found myself so attuned to him that by the time I even noticed anything else, most of the people were gone. It was well after midnight, and the gallery was closing.

I still remember the look he gave me as he stood in front of the gallery and watched me walk down the street on my way home. I wasn't even worried about the shadowed stranger; I was too giddy from a wonderful night.

After a hot shower I had climbed into bed, but I still couldn't sleep. So, I had decided to look at the pictures, even though when I found the ones of us together, I could not make myself move on. I looked like a completely different person standing next to him. Sensual and confident, I would have never believe that were me if I hadn't been there.

Would I ever see him again, though?

My heart constricted with the thought, and I clutched the camera to my chest.

"Asterion," I said with a sigh, closing my eyes to picture him.

"Uhg, you will never speak of that vile man in my presence!" the voice startled me, and I jolted up in bed, finding Anne from the gallery standing in the middle of my bed room, wearing a white robe that showed more that is covered.

"What the hell!" I gasped, looking around, wondering if she had been hiding in here all along, or some other way she could have gotten in.

"Language, a lady must always be a lady." She scolded me, putting her hands on her hips, showing off perfectly manicured nails.

"How on earth did you get in my bed room?" I demanded, dropping the camera and looking for something I could use as a weapon, because this woman was obviously a phsyco! But the only thing I could find were books, and I didn't care if I were dying, I would never throw one of them in my own defense.

"I am a goddess dear; I can go wherever I please." She said with a roll of her eyes, as if all of this should have been openly obvious.

"Are you crazy? What are you talking about, Anne?"

"Oh, do not call me buy that ridiculous mortal name my son insists I use whenever I am in mortal presence." She waved her hand, and I gritted my teeth.

"Then what should I call you?" _Besides crazy lady_!

"Aphrodite, of course." Again, as if this should have been openly obvious. But that gave me pause, and I paused, looking her over. She seemed to almost glow now in the dim light of my room, her hair loose and curling down her body. She smelled strongly of . . . was that apples? Yes it was apples and the sea. I swallowed heavily, trying to ignore the strong urge to inhale it deeply, or the tingly sensation her presence made me feel.

"Are you crazy?" I asked uncertainly, but the other half of my brain was fighting the sane part because it was starting to believe that she was saying to me. How else had she ended up in my bedroom? I was sleeping by the window, and my bed was too low for her to hide under. My door was still closed and so was the closet.

"I am not," she snapped, giving a frustrated sigh before rolling her eyes. "I am guessing you wish for a show of my mighty power?" And before I could even say something, she flicked her wrist and the camera that had been sitting in her lap was now in her open palm. The screen was still lit and the picture of me and Rion still was there.

"Uhg, I cannot even stand the sight of his face." She said stiffly, before tossing the camera back upon the bed. But I was gaping at her, not believing what I had just seen. Hesitantly, I rubbed my eyes. Nope, she was still there. I pinched myself as hard as I could. No, she hadn't gone anywhere.

Was I not dreaming then? Could she actually be . . .?

"Oh my god!" I suddenly gasped, and she looked at my curiously. "I met Cupid and Psyche!"

"Oh, of course, I appear in your bed room, make a camera go from your lap to my hand, and the only thing you think is amazing is you met my son and his wife." She threw her hands up in the air, looking at the ceiling. "Where did all my respect go?"

"Respect? You are known for making mortals and god fall in love with each other for fun. You messed with people lives because you wanted too!"

"So?" she asked indignantly.

"So?" I gaped at her as if she had just grown three heads. "Are you kidding me?"

"I do not see how this is such a big deal. I have not done anything that the other gods have not done at some point in time."

"Yeah, you all are screwed up," I muttered with a sigh.

"No, mortals are the ones who are not right." She corrected me, and I was a little afraid to piss her off in case she did something to me. But that brought up a good point.

"Well, what do you want from me? I am mortal. There had to be some reason you are in my bed room, right?"

"You? A mortal?" she laughed a loud, the sound like the tinkling of bells. "Where on earth did you get that god awful notion?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I huffed, crossing my arms and glaring at her. She stared at me for a second, a huge smile on her face, like this was all one big joke. Then, slowly, the smile began to fade as I did not look away or change expressions. Her look went from amusement to shock.

"Oh goddess, you really don't know?"

"Obviously not, so fill me in, or get out of my room!"

She did not even acknowledge my outburst, but just continued to look at me. It was starting to get more and more uncomfortable, and it was making me antsy to know what she was talking about.

"What do you have to say, Aphrodite?" I snapped, finally at my wits end. Did that mean that Rion had something to do with this? Was he a god also? Had I flirted with a god?

"I just do not understand how you can thin you are a mortal." She said quietly.

"I AM a mortal!" I said again, getting more and more frustrated by the second. And I was getting scared, really scared. She shook her head and my mouth went dry, watching her, waiting for what she was going to say. Something told me this was going to change my life.

"You are anything but mortal," she finally said, and I raised my eyebrows at the cryptic comment. What was that supposed to mean? I bled, I ate, and I cried, if I wasn't mortal, than what was I? But before I could either burst into tears or scream in frustration, she spoke again.

"How could the daughter of Hades possibly be so naïve?"


	40. Promise

**Kalin's POV**

My head pounded as awareness came slamming into me. I tried to blink my eyes open but my vision was blurry, and the light made my eyes burn. Groaning, I threw an arm over my eyes, my other hand went blindly searching, until I found the small cool rectangle that had to be my phone.

I peeked open my eyes, barley able to make out the screen of my phone. But I somehow managed to blindly operate it, and even the ringing in my ears was escalating my headache to devastating scales. I knew I shouldn't have drunken so much, but damnit my sister didn't have to torture me like this.

"Hello?" my sister picked up on the third ring, and I finally pushed myself up into a sitting position, nearly vomiting from the effort.

"Stop fucking calling me." I hissed into the phone, swaying as I rubbed my temples and rapidly blinked my eyes to see.

"Excuse me, little brother? What kind of hello is that when you are calling me?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Brother, maybe if you weren't so goddamn drunk, you would be able to tell that I am NOT the one who is calling you! I haven't called you in a long time!"

"I am not drunk, damnit!" I roared into the phone, increasing my headache and the need to breathe deeply to keep from puking. God damn this human concoction, why did they shove this poison down their veins? "I am perfectly sober!" I said in a more quite voice.

"Yeah, right, wish dad were here so he could knock you around in your perfectly sober state." Her comment surprised me, and I blinked at the phone for a moment. She never brought up our father unless she was really pissed off.

"I'm sorry," I didn't know exactly what I was apologizing for. Maybe it was because I was the reason for our father and her mother getting killed. At least, that is how I saw it, but she refused to agree with me, the only family I had.

"Don't apologize to me," she snapped, and then sighed. "Just, drink some damn water to speed up the sobering, and find out who is really calling you, because I am a little busy." And with that, my one and only sister, the person who had always been there when I really needed her, hung up on me.

I put the phone on the nightstand beside me, looking at it like it had just grown legs. She had never done that to me before, what in the world could be wrong?

I didn't have much time to think about it when suddenly the strong pulling sensation in my chest came back with a painful vengeance, making me double over, sliding my feet to touch the floor so I wouldn't topple off the bed. It took me a few seconds to breathe through the sensation, unfamiliar and yet familiar all at the same time.

But one thing was increasingly clear to me. I could feel my sister, faintly, and while she was unconsciously reaching out to me, she was not calling me with such strength, a strength she never had used before. But who else could be pulling with such urgency, such intimacy?

Becca.

My head snapped up and I bolted for the bedroom door, stumbling from dizziness, but pushing it aside because to me this was more important than life itself.

"Becca!" I bellowed, my voice ringing throughout the house, leaving no nook and cranny untouched. If she were in the house, she would hear me, but the question would be if she would respond to me. Me hurting her with my actions could never cause her to call out to me with such strength, and according to my sister, she shouldn't even be able to let alone know how. But there was no one else who could do this to me with such . . . intensity.

My blood felt like it was on fire, my instinct was pacing just below the surface, waiting to run, to protect. And my heart was pounding a million times a minute to keep up the adrenaline that was pouring into my veins, combating the hangover.

There was no answer.

"Becca!" this time my voice broke slightly, and I began going through the house, and the more and more empty rooms I turned up the more and more agitated I became. I began destroying things along the way, my anger getting the best of me.

Surely she had not left the grounds? Here on the grounds we were safe, no Grit could step fourth. But one you passed the boundary of the woods, you were fair game, and I knew that sometimes Grits would hang out just outside the property in hopes of having a go at one of the royal family.

My blood froze in my veins at the thought and, my hands bloodied and dripping, I took off down the stairs and into the autumn cold. My breathing was becoming exerted, my breaths evident in the air. I could still feel her pulling at me, but she wasn't trained at it, and it was weak at best. I tried to focus on her, to reach for her as she was reaching for me, but I couldn't hook myself around her.

I bolted for the woods, the beast me pounding within my body, sharpening my sense of smell and sight, looking for anything for her. But it had rained recently rained and the smell of the forest and earth were overwhelming, not to mention it was a sensory overload since I had not been around this much nature in awhile.

Still I breathed deeply, shaking off any ill affect left over from the alcohol, but it still wasn't enough.

"REBECCA!" I bellowed, my voice carrying through the woods, causing animals to burst from their hiding spots, birds taking flight. They sensed the predator in my blood, the reason our females were our sanity, our grounding.

My fangs sharpened, my vision blurring. I tried not to give over, knowing I would be a danger not only to the person who took Becca, but maybe even Becca herself. But in the end, I let out a long and agonized bellow, because the beast overtook me with more strength than I had to fight it.

**Rebecca's POV**

I was jolted out of my attempt to call to Kalin when my kidnapper suddenly came stalking back in, kicking over things. I blinked up at her, my vision blurred from having my eyes closed so long. Her body posture was tense, and she seemed to be shaking with . . . anger?

"What the hell did you do?" she demanded, her voice little more than a pissed off hiss. I merely blinked up at her, unwilling to admit I had found a way to call Kalin, because I knew I shouldn't be able to do it. My heart pound in my chest though, because that meant that Kalin was looking for me. Would he be able to find me?

My brain began working through everything I could possibly do, when my kidnapper pulled out a key to my chains and began to unlock them. At first I thought she was going to free me in fear of Kalin finding us, but then she spoke.

"Now I have to friggin move you so I can replace your damn implant, and before he finds us." But once my hands fell, even though she held the other end of the chains, I tackled her, screaming when I felt the stiches in my leg tear. I couldn't let that stop me though, and for the first time in my life, I pulled back my fist and hit someone in the face.

I hissed at even more pain, but took the advantage and tried to bolt from the cave. The only problem was it was dark, and not only was my leg bleeding but it was hurting something fierce. The cold air assaulting it didn't help in the least. So when I felt someone grab my arm I sighed in annoyance and went to swing my already pounding fist once again. But my fist was easily caught, and before I could even respond, I was swept off my feet, brusquely but gently, and then I was being carried at a slow jog. I sighed again, feel to tired to fight, until I leaned my head back against a hard chest that smelled familiar.

"Your bleeding," his voice was but a rough growl, and then we were out in the open, the sunlight illuminating his face.

"Kalin!" I gasped, throwing my arms around his neck. He neither stopped nor responded to my affections, and something inside me told me to tread lightly. "You found me," I whispered softly in his ear, hoping intimacy would lessen the tension in his body.

He growled, a sound that made me tingle all the way to my toes, my pain all but forgotten.

"I would always find you," he responded, but his voice was a little less gruff. His hands were becoming a little less impersonal, holding me closer, a little tighter.

"I know, I never doubted you," I nuzzled his neck and he stumbled, groaning.

"Little Bride," his voice was a hoarse warning, one that made me smile. I wasn't going to waste any more time that I had with Kalin, I had wasted too much already.

"Your right, while your tending my wounds I can strip for you." It was one of the boldest things I had ever said, and I felt his suck in a large breath.

"You were just captured." He reminded me.

"And it made me realize what I want. Besides," I dropped my voice an octave. "The hero's always get laid, Kalin." I chuckled when at that comment, his footsteps increased, the tension gone, replace by a new kind, one of anticipation.

"Once I have you this time, I will not let you go." He swore, but I heard the warning.

"Oh, promises, promises," I said, nipping his throat a little hard. He growled in appreciation and he nipped me back I could feel his elongated fangs and it sent a thrill through my body. He was ready, we both were, and finally, I would be not just a Thorian female, but Kalin's true bride as well.


	41. The Truth About Forever

**Rebecca's POV**

I looked at Kalin, studying him as he watched me with eyes that were more animal that man. They were fierce and intense, making me shiver in want and my breathing and heartbeat increase uncontrollably. Something was different between us now, I could feel him on a level I never had before, a bone, soul deep level, as I should have been from the begging. I ached for the pain and worry I had caused him, but I wanted to make up for it now.

"Don't you ever leave my sight again!" he growled, leaning down to nip at my throat again, and I leaned my head back to allow him better access. He took full advantage, dragging his mouth over my flesh as he navigated his way easily through the woods. I stared up at the trees, bare from the approaching winter, allowing sunlight to flutter through, blinding me every now and then. I wallowed in the sensations, wiggling in his arms, wishing he would move faster.

"We are almost there, Little Bride." he said, but his voice was tight rather than humorous. And sure enough, we passed onto the grounds of the house not even moments later, showing me the sun high in the sky. How long had I been in that cave?

The thought fled when the end of one of Kalin's fangs nicked my skin. I moaned aloud, twisting in his arms, my breathing edging into hyperventilation.

"I have missed tasting you from the flesh," he groaned into my throat, lapping at the wound, causing my body to catch fire. I would have demanded he put me down so I could repay in kind, but he kicked open the front doors, taking the steps two at a time in his own haste.

"Hurry," I encouraged, causing him to duck into the first bedroom we came too, but while I was expecting him to just fling me on the bed and fall on me, he surprised me by showing restraint.

"Must, slow, down." he said softly to himself, gently setting me on the bed. He took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling, and then kneeled and began to slowly take off my pants, his strong hands shaking as they worked on my fly. I allowed him too, watching him intently as as to know what he would do next.

Slowly, he began peeling them down my legs, taking care not to brush my torn stitches. He took a deep breath when he looked up at me sitting on the bed in my panties, but he then forced his eyes to my wound.

"She cut into muscle," he hissed in anger, gently touching the side of my wound to gauge the deepness of it.

"She removed a tracker, apparently it was malfunctioning." I managed to say between heated breathes of arousal. I didn't care about my wound, I just wanted to wrap myself around him and forget everything else.

"Did she replace it?"

"No, that is how I escaped, apparently you were coming for me and she was going to move me before she replaced it. I guess she didn't bring the backup." I didn't want to think about it, I wanted to leave it behind. Didn't he see that?

"You called me . . . do you know?" he looked up at me, his eyes beseeching, and making me feel like my heart skipped a painful beat.

"I know I am part Grit, if that is what you mean. I also know my parents were paid to carry me to term. And I know they messed with my genetics."

"So that they could create a Grit who could find her mate as well as having more than one child and having the chance of female children." he took a deep breath, looking back down at my leg.

"Does it matter to you?" I asked softly.

His head snapped up, those eyes once again more beast than man, and I gasped with want.

"I told you, you are _mine._" he growled, and without warning leaned down and latched onto my wound with his mouth. I let out a small cry in both pain and pleasure, my spine melting. I landed on my back on the mattress, all of my nerve endings singing in pleasure, my breasts already becoming tight and heavy.

I was still just trying to breath when I felt his mouth move from my wound and begin across my thigh. His mouth moved to my inner thigh, his lips moving as he kissed and every once in while flicking his tongue out, teasing my sensitive flesh. Every once in awhile he would grave me with fangs, and the dampness between my thighs came in a rush.

Some part of me was embarrassed , especially when his mouth brushed my sex through my panties, his firm lips causing jolting of sensations. I couldn't protest though, I knew what pleasure he could wring with that mouth on me.

But he did not stop when I wanted him too. He instead still kept moving up, pulling my shirt up as he went, kissing the flesh he exposed. My body broke out in a cold sweat, goosebumps raising on every inch of my body. My breaths sounded more like the gasps of a dying woman, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs, every single touch on my body ramping my arousal to a new level.

"I have waited so long to touch you like this," he breathed into my stomach, and my muscled clenched in response, my breath choking for a moment.

"As have I," I admitted, suddenly surprised by the admission. So was he, apparently, for he raised his head to stare at me with eyes that were so full of fire and beast. He said nothing though, resuming his trek with his mouth, though now he added his teeth, wringing little cries from me as he grazed the flesh.

Finally the shirt came over my head, but before I could even pull it off he was at my breast, pulling my bra aside, his movements jerky, and then he latched onto my nipples, biting and tugging with those firm lips, and I cried out from the sudden and sheer pleasure of it. Nothing else mattered in this moment, no one but Kalin.

He groaned against the soft swell, an action I felt in my sex, causing me to grow slick. I twisted against him, already frantic, not wanting to continue on with foreplay. I wanted him inside me, I _needed _to feel him in and against every inch of me, dominating, consuming.

"Kalin," I moaned, hands tangled in his hair, trying to hold him closer and rip him away at the same time. I felt his body tense at my cry, and I slipped my leg between his, using my leg to rub his cock which I could feel hard as steel against his jeans. He groaned deep into my flesh and I then felt the prick of his fang. Immediately my body jerked but did not reach orgasm, keeping my teetering on my brink.

"Kalin," I said again, this time a ragged plea. When he pulled away I thought he was going to answer my plea, but he merely stripped, and then for a moment he stood there, eating up my naked form as I ate up his. His body was hard and built, his skin perfectly golden. His cock was hard and thick, making my sex throb with want. Every muscle in his body was pulled taunt, his eyes hot, his hair wild from me plowing my hands through it.

Right now he was the image of sex.

I wriggled, an invitation, one he took, reaching down and hooking his fingers around the edge of my panties and tugging them down. He took in a ragged breath when he finally caught sight of my naked sex. I was wet, I knew I was, I could feel it on the inside of my thighs, the cool air hitting it but only ramping up my need.

And just like that, without warning, he fell on me, body to body, his fingers sliding home. I cried out, twisting against me, desperate to find the edge and fall over, to have my body shatter into a million pieces underneath him.

"I will savor you," he growled into my throat, and his voice was low and gruttal. I barley heard him over my own moans of pleasure, but in response I bit into his throat, hard enough that my canine nicked flesh and I tasted blood, but soft enough that I would tear flesh. He groaned, his cock jerking against my stomach. In retaliation, his fingers curled, stroking that little sweet spot, teasing, teasing, until I had screamed my throat raw. He knew how to keep me from orgasming, and he didn't stop until I was so wet his hand and the bed sheets underneath me was soaked.

I was sobbing at this point, finally ready to cry in relief when he removed his hand and positioned himself above me.

But he once against paused, making me want to claw him in frustration.

He looked up and met my eyes, pinning me in place, his gaze clear, searching.

"I need you to say it, Becca," he said softly, his body shaking from his need, but he did not move, just looked at me, asking, wanting.

"Please," I whispered, "I need you Kalin."those words held a wealth more than what I had said it, and his eyes set aglow, shining brilliantly emerald, so much love in them I felt tears slip from my eyes.

"And I need you," he breathed, and then slowly entered me. His admission had not tampered my arousal, but I had managed to get a better hold of it, understanding how important it was for his to take this slow, to savor it. But when he filled me to the hilt we both moaned at the rightness, at the connection that sparked all the brighter between us.

"You are my Bride," he breathed, and then he sunk his fangs into my exposed throat, and I immediately spiraled into an orgasm, my body tightening on his, urging him on. And he gave me more and more, drawing out my orgasm with his measured thrusts and he drank from my neck in long deep draws, each pull like a pure lance of pleasure, making me go from one orgasm to another, until they blended together and I was clinging to him, screaming his name, sobbing for mercy, and begging for me.

The moment his fangs left my neck, the pleasure fell to a manageable level, and I took control.

I pushed, managing to flip us both over, still keeping him inside me. He gripped my hips in surprise as I used the momentum to take my own first long slide along his cock.

He hissed in a breath, his hands tightening, probably going to leave bruises. I paused, trying to let him gain control, but he was having none of it.

"More!" he growled, and use his grip on my hips to slam me down on him. I moaned in pleasure, but he didn't stop, taking control of the wild ride I had meant to give him. Eventually he thrust up to meet me, his hands moving to my ass as we both moved with each other, our pace picking up, becoming faster and more desperate.

"Kalin," I gasped, on the brink of another orgasm, wanting him to join me, needing to feel him. He growled in response, leaning up again and again sinking his fangs into my throat, rolling us over. This time it wasn't to feed, this one was of domination, holding me in place as he worked both of our bodies towards release. I raked my nails down his back, egging him on, meeting his thrusts with my hips.

But as his hips thrust again he brush my swollen sensitive clit, and I began to orgasm once again, clinging to him, crying his name. He suddenly tensed at the feeling of me closing around him, and then with a loud roar of possession and triumph, he began to come, white hot jets that I could feel deep inside me, branding me forever.

I was truly a Thorian Bride, was my last thought before everything turned black.

I awoke with every muscle in my body hurting. But not a bad I had just been beat the hell out of hurting, no the good I had just worked out and my muscles were deliciously sore. That brought a smile to my face as I stretched, testing which muscles were more sore than other. The insides of my legs was the worst, and I didn't even know if I was going to be able to get out of bed.

A hot bath, I suddenly decided, I needed a really hot bath to help.

That decided I reached out into the bed, looking for my lover, but I only came up with empty sheets. And was I wearing a shirt? When had that happened?

"Mmm, Kalin?" I called softly, yawning before I gave one final stretch and then opened my eyes. I was no longer in the room we had made love, but I was instead in what looked to be the master bedroom.

And right there at the bottom of the bed, sitting in one of the armchair, was Philip.

I gave a small shriek, jerking the sheet up even though I was wearing a shirt, feeling suddenly very vulnerable and embarrassed.

"Philip?" I squeaked, studying him. He didn't look happy, in fact he looked like he was silently fuming. Ahoh, didn't bare well for me. "What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling so confused I felt like my head was going to explode. A weird vibe was coming off of him, something I had never noticed before, but I didn't have time to analyze it for Kalin walked into the bedroom. His left cheek was swollen, like he had been hit, and he looked more than just a little pissed. What the hell had happened since I had fallen asleep?

"There, you see for yourself now that she is fine and well." Kalin said, addressing Philip, not me, and I blinked in confusion. When had these two even had time to find each other and talk?

Philip said nothing, he sat there for a moment, then he stood, all lethal grace, all constrained fury, I could tell. He walked towards Kalin, and then in a burst of movement, he punched him on his right cheek. Kalin, who could have at least tried to dodge, did not, but let the punch his home, merely wiping away the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.

I gave a cry and stumbled from the bed, putting myself between them, trembling on unsteady legs.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Philip suddenly yelled, and I flinched, unable to prevent Kalin from pulling me out of the way and moving me behind him.

"You said to give her a choice, and I did. I never forced her into anything."

"Because of you, she is injured. You think I don't know how brutal the mating between a queen and the king can be? She is much more fragile than you are, damnit!"

"You knew she was going to be my queen Philip, you knew but you kept her hidden," there was no accusation in Kalin's tone, only simple fact. I peeked around Kalin, staring at Philip in disbelief. Kalin could not be implying what I think he was implying.

"I knew since the moment she was conceived and her mother came to me with problems. She was overproducing blood even in the womb, of course I knew." he spat at Kalin's feet. "But when I left the clan, I meant it. But I could not stop my instincts as a Thorian, so I did what I could do, and I protected her as much as I could."

"No, you hid her when you should have handed her over to the clan for protection."

"And take away her freedom?" what?

"You know that doesn't happen!" Kalin was growling now.

"She deserved to be free! Not bound to you! Not bound to one of us! And we had no clue where you were, Kalin, what good would have handed her over to clan have done?"

"It would have kept her safe. And you didn't even think about how she would react to the Thorian and Grit genetics? She didn't understand."

Oh god.

"Philip," I gasped, stepping around Kalin. I couldn't keep the betrayal from my voice. "You knew what I was?"

"Yes," he answered stiffly, looking guilty. "I did it for your own good, just like when he came into your life and I told you to stay away from him." he paused for a moment. "Though I have to say I am surprised that you waited to long to sleep with her Kalin, you were under the madness for a long time and most male react on instict."

"I was restrained long enough for my to gain my common sense." was the cold reply.

"Why didn't you tell me!" I screamed, interrupted them both. Tears gathered in my eyes. "I didn't understand what was wrong with me! I felt so abnormal, so I gave myself to men I didn't love, all because I wanted to feel normal!" the tears began to fall down my cheeks. "And all because of that I never though I would have a normal relationship. So I pushed Kalin away, again and again."

Kalin softly drew me to him, making shushing and soothing sounds as I gained control of myself. Philip had known, all along, and yet he had let me run from Kalin, my soul mate. Had encouraged me.

"I am going to take a bath," I said firmly, turning away from them both. "And I want you gone when I come out Philip." I began to walk away.

"But I have more to tell you," he pleaded, but I turned a deaf ear.

"I don't care what else you have to say." I muttered, but he heard me.

"Not even if I told you I was your father?"

Everything in me stopped dead.


	42. Bask In Bliss

**Rebecca's POV**

I tried to get my body to relax as I lounged in the hot bath with Kalin behind me. The tub was huge, fitting the two of us easily, more the size of a hot tub than anything else. The water was exceedingly hot, like stepping into a natural hot spring, but it was just what more sore muscles needed. Kalin's hands wandered over me, expert fingers messaging a muscle here, caressing here, before moving on in a gentle sweep. It was both arousing and relaxing, and I couldn't find the strength to keep a hold of my anger and upset.

"Kalin?" I asked, my voice sounding drugged, utterly relaxed, the voice of a well pleasured woman.

"Hmm?" he said in response, nuzzling my exposed throat. It made my pulse pick up and my body tingle, but I tried to keep my mind on the task at hand.

"Do you think he meant what he said?" I asked, thinking back to Philip. After the stunning announcement, I hadn't even managed to get a word in. Kalin and Philip had began arguing, their voices loud even in the large room, yelling in a language I didn't know, nor had I ever heard. It was heated, and I felt like shrinking back into the wall.

But then silence had suddenly fallen, and then Kalin had spoken again in that language, one short sentence, and Philip's face had flushed with embarrassment.

"You are correct my king." he said softly. Then he bowed his head in my direction and said, "my queen." and took his leave swiftly.

I had pestered and poked Kalin, wanting to know what had just perspired. But he had avoided the subject entirely, instead kissing me until I was senseless, then sweeping me off my feet and taking me into the bathroom where he drew a bath. When I had tried to ask again, he had taken my head in his large hands and met my gaze, letting me see the serious light in his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it because it is not important. Right now I want to revel in every sensation and moment I have in holding my bride and making her feel like my queen." and he kissed me again, but this time it was gentle and searching, not demanding, just asking if I would comply.

I melted under him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he stripped - okay he tore our clothes – us both. He then made love to me against the cool tile wall of the bathroom, such a shocking contrast to my already fevered skin and the heat of him. We had taken our time with it, not rushing, savoring, as if this would be the last we would ever had. It brought tears to me eyes by the time I finally reached my peak, such tenderness and love was just so astounding to me..

"I think that he thought that he meant it." he said simply.

"I just don't see how that would make sense." I said with a shrug. "I have never even seen Philip with a wife, how in the world could I be his daughter unless he just slept with someone random? He doesn't seem like the kind of man to do that."

"We will find out soon enough." he said easily, nipping my throat, letting me feel his fangs extended.

I couldn't help it, I laughed.

"Are you so insatiable?" Like I could say anything with the way he was easily arousing my body.

"A man who has a wife like you, how can he not be insatiable? You are like the best drug, burning in the most wondrous way."

But something else had snagged my attention.

"Are we really already married?" I wasn't sure if I was happy or not about that.

"Yes, the bonding ritual is complete. You and I are two complete souls." he twisted his head so he could meet my gaze. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, no, it is just humans make such a big deal out of it. A wedding with food and people and everything. It is just kind of astonishing that a marriage could be so simple."

He laughed, rich and husky.

"Oh, my poor bride, this is far from over."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, lets just say that my whole clan is waiting to greet us."

"Oh," I wasn't sure what he was getting at, but I let it drop. "Where is your sister, anyway?"

"I don't know," he said on a sigh. "When I first came out of the madness she was there constantly. But now she seems distracted."

"Maybe she is lonely." I suggested.

Kalin snorted, but I cut him off before he could continue.

"Think about, her only brother had just found love, and so are many of her kin. How would you feel about it?"

"Honestly, the thought of my sister giving herself to someone makes the beast come out in me." In demonstration, he put his fangs against my throat again, sharper this time, but it still made my heart pound in anticipation.

"Well, I think me coming into the family is good for her then, only having a brother like you." I teased, and he growled against me, making me giggle.

"I am an exceedingly wonderful brother." He said proudly, and I had to smother a laugh behind my hand, but he must have caught it because he scowled at me. "Watch yourself, Little Bride, otherwise you might find yourself at the receiving end of the big bad wolf."

"Is that what you consider yourself?" I said, somewhat aghast.

"Of course," he said with a half smile and then, I suppose, he caught his prey once again.

"I must warn you, my people love music, singing in general." Kalin said in a seriouse tone as we sat in the car, on the way to see his clan. Though I had wanted to stay and bask in what we had finally found, Kalin seemed antsy to have me meet his people, so I had complied easily.

"They don't like instruments?" I ask, confused.

"They can't play them, our Goddess only had a gift for singing, something that has been passed onto our Brides. Her sister was the one who had the gift for instruments." We didn't say it, but my mixed heritage would explain why I could do both easily.

"Are we going to tell them?" I asked softly, the subject I had been dreading. To tell or not to tell Kalin's people about my mixed genetics.

"It doesn't matter, I don't think they need to know." He shrugged, trying to put my at ease.

"But what about your kids? What if I give birth to a female child?"

"Then we will love our child, as we would if it were male, and that will be that. My people have no say in our lives, Becca. I want then to love you, and I know they will. I don't care what kind of children we have, whether Grit or Thorian, and I know you will too. So don't worry about them, not when I finally have you."

His words did little to untangle my unease, but I gave him a convincing smile and looked out the window, wondering what was going to happen and what lay in our future. I had a tightened feeling in my gut, like something bad was going to happen, but I pushed it on the nervousness of meeting his people . . . our people.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing myself to not flee the moment my feet touched the ground.

"This place is. . . is . . ." I sputtered as I looked around the village before me, built deep into the woods, seeming to blend into it.

"Not what you expected?" Kalin asked with a small smile that bespoke his nervousness. He wanted me to like it.

"Its beautiful!" I finally managed to get out. Houses were everywhere, towering with the trees, made of wood and brick alike, both covered in ivy and brightly colored creeping plants. A large fountain was in the middle of a square, but even that was covered in vegetation that only added to its natural beauty of gray stone. A small group of children stood a little off, looking of all ages, but I knew how deciving that could be, and wanted to laugh at how they kept a distance. They were weary of me, but they looked eager to come and see Kalin. It was uncomforting, to be the odd one out, until I saw a little face I recognized.

"REBECCA!" came the little voice.

"Elizabeth?" I asked in surprised as she came flying out of the ground of kids and clung to my legs.

"Rebecca! I can't believe you're finally here! I can show you my room! And the playground! And—" I stopped the poor girl so she could take a breath, but I was laughing.

"Okay, okay, I will go where you want me too."

"YAAAAY!" she screamed, then leapt on Kalin's legs, though her caught her and hefted her up before her little feet touched the ground again.

"Kaliiiin! Im happy you and Rebecca ended up together! Shes nice! And she plays so much stuff! Can we eat at my house tonight? PLEASSEEE! I also wanna help with the decoarations! Can I? PLEASSEEEE!" I winced at her high pitched voice, but Kalin took it in stride. But I could see the tinge of sadness in his face as he looked at this beautiful little girl who was dying at an age no one should.

"Of course." I answered for him, not knowing what we decorating for, but figuring it couldn't hurt. And I was getting hungry.

"Lead the way, little duck." He said, putting her on the ground again where she grabbed on of our hands in each on of hers and began pulling us. Me and Kalin shared a smile, and then I asked him.

"So, where does she live anyway? You said she was made, so im guessing she doesn't have parents."

"Nope!" Elizabeth piped up before Kalin could, but he looked nervouse and a little edgy. And the next words froze me into place because it was something I wasn't ready to face as of yet.

"Uncle Philip takes care of me."


	43. Truth About Family

**Rebecca's POV**

I stared daggers in Philip the entire time. Not that he paid much attention to me. He played with Elizabeth, listening as she chatted away about this and that, childish nonsense that would have made me smile at any other point in time but I was too high strung to even force a smile. Kalin hovered at my side like a faithful hawk, attune to everything I was feeling and the growing sickening feeling in my stomach.

"I have never seen Elizabeth before," I murmured, biting my lip as I watched them.

"I thought you saw her in your sister's class all the time." He asked with confusion, but I was already shaking my head.

"No, I mean I never saw her around Philip. Heck, I didn't even know if the man went home, let alone that he was taking care of a kid. It seemed every time I called him, he was at the hospital."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, no, I guess I'm not, he could have just been around some equipment, I suppose. But still, you think that I would have seen her."

"She doesn't always stay with him," Kalin said, as if that explained everything. "We actually try to keep her here at the village as much as possible so we can keep track of her health and what not. She stays with a lot of the families here, but she mostly stays with Fortis whenever she is around."

"Fortis?" that wasn't a name I had been expecting to come up, but the curtain of sadness that fell over Kalin's face made my heart pang.

"Elizabeth shares my sisters DNA, so technically she is her mother, so to speak, though it wasn't her egg that she used. She feels worse than anyone, watching this little girl die, and I know she was pouring over ways to heal her since she found out." He sighed, a sound dragged deep from his chest. "I wish my sister wouldn't take on so much of the blame."

"Well, maybe now that you and I are around we can help her out." I suggested, wondering how the cheerful, beautiful woman I saw in my mind could hide so much anguish and pain inside. It was obvious she was lonely, no matter what Kalin wanted to believe. She had gone through the years watching over these people, seeing them become paired or wander endlessly, only to wonder if she will ever find that as well.

"Maybe, no doubt she is here at the moment, locked away in the lab."

"The lab?" I asked in confusion, turning my face towards him with a confused look.

"My sister is studying the flowers, trying to find a way to make the same immortal concoction our goddess's husband received. Millions of generations of flowers, along with some cross breeding, have made the flowers less potent. But she did discover how to extend the life of our woman for several hundred years."

"She sounds like a genius."

"She is," he said with pride, a smile on his lips. "But don't say that to her, she refuses to take any credit. The truth is, a lot of the women here hate her, but she still tries to help them all she can anyways."

"Why do they hate her?"

"Because she has immortality."

"But she has no one to share it with," I pointed out with confusion, and Kalin nodded, his expression suddenly closed off, making my stomach clench. Seems this was a touchy subject, and I guess I could understand why. But my mind was whirling now, thinking of Fortis and how strong she forced herself to be for her brother and her people.

"Hey, isn't Fortis older?"

"Yeah, a lot older," he said dryly.

"Then how come she isn't the one to take the crown?"

There were several minutes of a long, heavy silence in which I wish I hadn't even bothered to ask.

"You will have to ask her." We stared at each other for several minutes until I got the hint. He wouldn't be saying any more on the subject, I would have to get it from the source.

I let out a sigh, looking around me, still in a kind of awe. The house was lovely, this whole village was lovely, I couldn't deny that one bit. But all of this was overwhelming.

"Why don't you take a walk?" Kalin suggested, and I knew he must think this place was awfully safe if he was willing to let me go wander off by myself. "I need to speak with Philip about a few things anyway." He said tightly when it looked like I was going to refuse.

Wow, males speaking, I knew I was going to choke on the testosterone. So I nodded, heaving a sigh, and then walked out the door, blinking to get used to the bright sunlight. People milled about, but all of them gave me curious looks as they passed by, men and women alike. I noticed there were a lot more women here than men, and while that confused me, I couldn't be bothered pondering on it too much.

At least not until I noticed one girl, who was frozen in place, just staring at me in shock.

Then she bolted.

"Hey!" I yelled, bolting after her, trying to keep sight as she zigged through ally's and in between buildings. Until she finally ran through a door of a building that stood on the outskirts of the village, and was larger than the others. It didn't look like a house, so I pushed my way through the doors without knocking, to find it looked more like a lab inside. Hallways stretched in different directions, and various rooms showed different equipment and experiments in progress.

Everyone in those rooms just stared when they saw me, and it made me nervous enough to move on quickly, wondering what this place was.

"Rebecca!"

I breathed a sigh of relief at the familiar voice, and turned to find Fortis coming towards me, a large smile on her face. We hugged, and she then ruffled my hair like I was her little sister before asking, "how in the world did you get here?"

"Someone ran from me, I thought it was weird enough to chase her down." I looked around. "What in the world is this place?"

"This place is my pride and joy. And it is also the reason why our females have gotten longer life spans now. Come on, I will show you." And she looped her arm with mine and began pulling me through the halls, until we were in the middle of the building, and put a code in the side panel and the door slid open.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what I was going to see. So when the door opened up to reveal a room lit with artificial moonlit and springing from the ground were thousands of flowers . . . . . well, yeah, didn't really know what to say.

She gave me a gentle nudge in and the door swished closed behind us.

"Are those . . . ?"

"Yeah. Those are the flowers born from the tears of our goddesses mother. Well, the later generation of them anyway. They originally grew on the land where the house you were staying in stands, but I needed to move them to a more controlled environment so I could work with them."

"But, if you have the flowers, why can't you just give the moon dew on them to the women, like your goddesses' mother did?"

"Inbreeding." She said simply.

"Uh, what?"

"The flowers. They were mixed with other flowers over the years and the impact was dimished. It has taken me several hundred years to single out the correct DNA and begin breed them while singling it out. I had to mutate the DNA slightly as well, and it helped a little. But I still can only increase the life span, I can't extend it to immortality." She gave a frustrated sigh and I could understand her pain. This was just one of the road blocks for their . . . our race, and she felt like she was on top of it.

"Who are all the women?" I asked instead, hoping to distract her. She began moving among the flowers, touching this one, checking that one.

"They are potential Brides. Whenever we find them we bring them here in hopes of pairing out males. Even though we do this though it is still rare for us to find a mate for a male before the madness hits him. It doesn't help we still have a lot of unfound males out there."

"You have missing people?"

"Yes, about a hundred of them, in fact. We aren't sure if the Grits have them, or if they are simply wandering with their madness, like Kalin did before he was caught. Now, mind you, we normally lock them up when they show signs, but sometimes they get away from us before we can do that, and then it is virtually impossible to find them. It is no burden though, the women being here. They help me with the research."

"What about Elizabeth?"

"Ah," a wave of sadness fell over her features. "I should never have tried to break through that wall."

"You made her?" I was surprised, though I guess since she was obviously in charge of the whole thing, I shouldn't have been.

"Yes, as a matter of face, in some ways, I am her mother. We took the egg of an unbound female, used my DNA, and the DNA of a bound male. Some genetic tweaking allowed us to ensure she was born as a female. At first, we thought it was a success, but then she began showing signs of cellular degeneration, and no matter what we did, we couldn't save her." She sniffled, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "It just proved there are some things even I cannot do without the blessing of our goddess."

"Don't blame yourself," I said, kneeling beside her and gently taking her hand. "You were trying to do something great for your people, and no one can blame you for that, not even your goddess."

"Thank you," she murmured, but I couldn't tell if she believed me or not. That was frustrating, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Just when I was about to speak again, the door behind us opened, and in stepped the chick who had run from me.

"Hey!" I yelled, leaping to my feet. She froze when she saw me, horror on her face, and then she tried to bolt again. But the doors had already closed behind her, and I was able to catch her arm before she could make them open again.

"WATCH THE FLOWERS!" Fortis yelled, panic in her voice, and I jumped just in time to avoid a flower I was going to run over and managed to push the girl to avoid her stomping on one as well. We both gave a sigh of relief, and then she tried to pull from my grip.

"Why did you run from me?" I demanded, tightening my grip.

"She ran from you?" Fortis asked as she delicately made her way to stand at my side. "Did you?" Fortis asked her, but it was out of curiosity, nothing else.

Trembling slightly, the girl nodded, swallowing heavily, and I rolled my eyes.

"Will you please stop acting like I am going to take a chunk out of you or something?" I snapped, letting go of her arm to cross mine over my chest. It was then I picked up on the girls vibe. "Wait, you're a Grit?"

She winced, but it was Fortis that answered.

"Yes, she is. This is Marie, and she was a experiment for her people, just like you. Cept she didn't come out the way they wanted her too, unlike you." Fortis shrugged.

"They were going to kill me." Maria said very quietly, and I was surprised to hear her talk at all, she seemed to meek.

"Why did you run?"

"Because I didn't know how you would handle me, your people's enemy being here in village."

"They aren't my enemies. I mean, yeah, I did just have a run in with them, and they did control most of my life from what I gather, but as of right now they have not struck out at me."

"But . . . they took your husband." Maria sputtered.

"And if they hadn't, then we would probably never have met." I shrugged. "I am willing to see the positive out of all of this."

"Good for you, Rebecca," Fortis nodded as she opened the door and began to usher us out, obviously still worried we would kill a flower or two.

"I agree," the voice made all three of us jump, and I turned to see Kalin standing there, smiling at me.

"How do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?" he asked, coming to me to draw me into his arms, rubbing my arms. I soaked it up, glowing under the attention.

"Keep finding me."

"Ah, that's my secret." I hit his chest softly, but I couldn't help but grin.

"You just love keeping your secrets."

"Of course I do," he said, a laugh in his voice, "It gives me power over you, of course."

"Oh, I see, power hungry."

"Well, we are related," Fortis said in a joking tone, and all of us laughed, even the shy Maria.

But a clearing of a throat behind us made us all tense, the laughter cut short. When Kalin turned to look, I caught a glance of Philip, standing there in an awkward pose. I sighed in frustration, even as Maria took this opportunity to flee down another hall. Why did Philip have to ruin all of these happy moments for me?

"Can I help you, Philip?" Fortis asked, because me and Kalin were still tense, though me more so than him.

"Yes, I would like to show Rebecca Rose." He answered, and the tone of his voice peaked my interest. He sounded pained and torn, and the look that crossed Fortis's face made my heart skip a beat. She looked like she had just been punched in the gut, both stunned and like she was going to be ill. Who was Rose? I wanted to ask, but the tension in the air made me keep my mouth shut, figuring that I would find out soon enough.

"Of course," she said her voice tense. She then glanced at Kalin, who gave a short hard nod, and she began down another hall, all of us following her at a steady pace.

"Don't worry," Kalin's voice at my ear made me jump, my feet briefly coming off the ground, him easily taking my weight. I glance up at him, knowing he must have sensed my anxiety, and I smiled softly at him, returning the soft kiss he gave me.

"Here we are," Fortis's voice made us break apart, both of us looking just a little sheepish. Fortis was standing at a large glass window that stretched a good thirty feet across, looking thick enough to take a bullet and shrug it off. To my left there was a metal door, with a keypad to the side and what looked to be a fingerprint scanner as well.

"What is this?" I asked, just as I looked through the glass to see a woman lying in a hospital bed hooked up to several machines. She was pretty, and looked to be sleeping, her blond hair shiny and long, resting over her shoulders and down to her waist. She was pale though, even paler than I was, and I wondered if she was anemic and that was why she was being treated.

"Is that Rose?" I asked, glancing at Philip, who was now standing beside Fortis at the window, leaning his forehead on it, his posture tense.

"Yes."

"Who is she?" for a moment no one answered me, and I looked between all of them, sighing in irritation when I felt sure I was never going to get an answer.

"She is my wife." He answered softly, and I felt it jolt through me like a shock of electricity.

"She is your what? You are married? How come I have never met her?" I shook my head hard. "You never even mentioned her!"

"I met her when Kalin met Fortis's mother. We were raiding a Grits base, a base where they were mixing Grit and Thorian DNA, trying to make one of you, Rebecca. They were experiments there, both of them having never even left the lab in their entire lives. They were considered failed experiments for one reason or another, and were due to be put to death." He paused, putting his hand on the glass. "We recognized each other for what we were, meant for each other, and she happily came into my life, and we quickly fell for each other."

"Then how come she is here, not living with you? And how come you think I am your daughter, since I have a different mother?"

"Her life was extended, not immortal, but she did age slower. We finally decided to have a child, but the problem was the gene that caused Thorian females to stop having children after one misfired with her. She became pregnant and then she fell into a coma state. I didn't want to move her here, even though she would have been better protected, and when the Grits got wind they broke into my house and stole the child from her womb." He took a deep breath, stepping back and rubbing his face.

"And then, several hundred years later, I met your mother. She had come into the hospital for a check up, saying she had just recently become pregnant and she was feeling odd. After checking her out I found out that the baby was already overproducing blood."

"She was what?" Fortis gasped, taking a step away from him. "She was showing signs at conception and you never even bothered to tell me when I asked? No female has ever done something like that, not even me!"

"I know, and when I tested a bit of her blood I found out her DNA profile, I knew she wasn't human. And I couldn't let them know I knew she wasn't normal, or they would whisk her and her mother away and I would lose my chance. When she was born, I was stunned to find out she was a girl, because my wife had said she knew our baby would be a girl, and I believed her. How else would they have an embryo that was just what they wanted? She was more compatible with Thorians, but she had the genes they could manipulate."

He looked at me to fiercely that I actually tried to take a step away, and Kalin moved more in front of me, gently petting my hair for comfort.

"I think you are my daughter, Rebecca. Do you know how hard it has been to sit by and what your parents and brother abuse you? I knew your parents knew you were going to be abnormal, no woman takes that news that her baby needs constant blood draws while still in the womb well, but your mother just brushed it off. Granted, she ate healthily, she did her best for a good pregnancy, but I think that was part of the deal. I had to keep my mouth shut all this time. And all this time I hoped you would not be drawn into the Thorian world, but once Kalin showed up, I knew they were done with waiting."

He held out his hand, and I titled my head at him.

"Testing your DNA is hard, because of all the genetic mutations and the genes that are Grit instead of Thorian, but let me try? I know I can prove I am your father."

"Well, except for the fact that your wrong."

All of us reacted violently to that voice, and Kalin snarled as he spun, shoving me behind him, towards Fortis, who leapt in front of me for protection.

But not before I saw Crystal standing in the hall way, looking casual with a cocky smile.

"And Rebecca, I'm wounded, as your mother I thought I would have gotten an invitation to your wedding."

**NOTE!**

**Sorry for the long time updating, but my wedding is only a month and a half away. BTW im starting a website for my books, both free and not. Oh, and Fatal Attraction is almost over. Then Across The Sands, Fortis's story, will begin. Hope to see you there!**


	44. Goddess says    so shall we do

**Note: This is the last chapter of Fatal Attraction. I thank all of you who followed me through Kalin and Rebecca's story and gave me the support I needed to carry on. Fortis's story will be coming, Love Across Sands, soon, I promise. Kalin's story will be edited and put into an epub and mobi format, which you can get at my website .com, where I will also be putting up my free books and even some to buy.**

**This is my wedding gift to you guys, thank you so much.**

**Rebecca's POV**

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Wasn't that how this breathing thing worked? It sure didn't feel like it was working at all. My lungs were burning, my head was light, and I felt like I was swaying on my feet.

First Philip told me he was my dad.

Now my best friend shows up and says she is my mother?

It was bad enough learning that everything I knew in general was a lie, like my heritage, and the fact that my parents were not really my parents.

Now, there was a long silence in face of this announcement.

At least there was until Philip started yelling.

"Lies!" he yelled, making me flinch from the shock to my ear drums. Kalin pushed me behind him, protective as always. It was fine; I didn't want to see this anyway.

"I am no lying, Philip." Crystal snapped.

"You are I know she is my daughter, she came from me and my wife, and you people took her!"

"Philip, I know you only wish to believe that, you know it is not the truth."

"Are you denying you took my child?"

"No, but you know very well Rebecca is not yours."

"What do you mean?" Fortis broke in, and I peeked around to see her holding up to hands to each of them to keep them separated.

"I mean if he really believed that Rebecca was his daughter then he would have done a DNA test."

"I tried!" Philip yelled going forward until Fortis stopped him.

"No, you didn't. Otherwise you would have saw she shares none of the same markers with you. She is my child; I gave up my egg for her to be conceived! I choose out her parents to carry her to term. It tore my heart out to give her up! But it was for the greater good of my race."

"How did you know she would be paired with Kalin?" Fortis asked, and I felt Kalin tense, as if he were angry by the question.

"Easy, we already had Kalin in custody at the time. Since we had managed to make her the best of both species we were also able to tweak the time when her body would search for a mate. There was a large risk of doing damage to the fetus but we decided to do it anyway. And tadaa, she was paired with Kalin since he was the closest eligible male, we made sure of that."

That made me tense.

"Wait," I said weakly, stumbling out from behind Kalin, even though he tried to stop me. "Are you saying to me that I Kalin's forced bride? Are you saying that . . . that he could have another Bride out there?"

"Yes, I am. And yes, he does." Her face softened and she looked actually sad. "I am sorry Rebecca, I really am. I tried to make your life good, but I wasn't able to see you until you were older. And you were everything I thought you would have been and more. I dreaded the day when they decided to finally bring Kalin in, but they didn't want to wait any longer, they wanted to see results."

"I . . . I'm not . . . his Bride . . ." I felt Kalin's arms, him forcing me to look up at him, but I struggled, tears in my eyes.

"Why were you able to birth a half breed when the others weren't?"

"Like I will tell you," Crystal snapped at Fortis.

Finally I was forced to meet Kalin's eyes, and they were so full of emotion they seared my soul.

"You are my Bride, never think otherwise."

"But, she said . . ."

"I don't care. I would know, I would feel it, here." He forced my hand over his heart, where it was beating furiously. I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack. "Rebecca!" he snapped, and I jerked slightly, startled that not only was he using my full name, but the tone in which he used it with.

"Damnit, I am so close to making you my wife this day, you will not run from me. Do you get me?"

"But what if you meet her one day?"

"I won't! You are her! There is no one else!" he kissed me hard and branding and I felt my body come to life. "I will never have nor want anyone but you! You are mine, heart, body, and soul, and that will never change. I may have found you because of what they did but I love you. Do you hear me? And that has nothing to do with the instinct or anything else. Nothing else but you, wonderful you." He kissed me hard again, and then jerked his head away from me to look at his sister.

"We are doing the ceremony now."

"But, Kalin! The village isn't ready yet! Neither is Rebecca."

"I don't care. I'm sick of people popping up, one saying he's her father the other that she is her mother and that she isn't really mine. Personally, I don't give half a fuck what the hell you guys have to say. Today, she will become my wife, and if either of you so much as say another word I will personally cut out your tongue and shove it in a very unpleasant place."

"Just made sure you do it reaaaaly slow for me," Crystal drawled, rolling her eyes like it was some sex joke. But Kalin ignored her and began dragging me along the hall ways once again, leaving everyone else to follow behind us. I didn't fight, still reeling, wishing I could just close my eyes and open them and still be in bed with Kalin. That none of this had happened, and I could just drown in that bliss and ignore the rest of the world.

"Philip, get the stuff, Crystal, since you seem to just make yourself at home, hurry and get the ceremonial cloth . . ." Fortis's voice tapered off the father we went.

"Kalin . . ." I started again, but he ignored me, dragging me into the sunlight, me stumbling over my own feet from his grip on my wrist and his rapid pace. His people did not even spare us a glance, either knowing better or used to the bickering between the royal families.

"Kalin!" I said again, and this time he whirled on me, his eyes full of fire.

"If you so much as dare to say anything more about how you are not my bride or anything else those two morons said I will personally lose it."

That sealed my lips shut.

He really did look like he was about to blow his lid.

My brain scrambled for something to say, to cover up my tracks, and I even felt ashamed.

"Where are we going?"

"To the main house on the grounds. There is a room there where all of the females in the family complete the ceremony that binds them to their husbands. It requires a special cloth that was made by our Goddess; it is the tie to the realm our Goddess made for our women to go to when they die while they wait for their husbands to join them, and if they wish, their sons." And he began walking again, even though a million questions were now running through my mind.

"Why do we need the cloth?" I asked as he pulled me into the largest house on the property, but I barely noticed.

"Because the Brides are human, they have no Thorian blood in them. The cloth helps the process."

"What is the other realm like?"

"Anything you want it to be. It changes for every woman."

"Why is it only a realm for women?"

"It is just how our Goddess made it."

"Can the men not go in?"

"We can, but if the Keeper catches us we can be harmed until we leave."

"The keeper?"

"The watcher of the realm. He hides in mirrors."

I pondered that as he drew me into a room that was bare except for a long stone table. A window allowed strong sunlight in, and it still somehow felt warm and welcoming. Without thinking, I reached out and touched the stone, gasping and jerking my hand away when a warm current ran up my arm.

I looked over and Kalin to find him watching me with a hooded gaze.

"That felt like . . ."

"Pure love?" he said softly, and I nodded, thinking that was the only way I could describe it. It was warm and welcoming and seemed to fill my chest and make it a little hard to breath.

"It is one of our most protected and cherished items. It is kept here instead of in the main family house because the whole clan will protect it with their lives. And we knew that they were working on half breeds, so we put it here just in case they were successful and they were allowed to step onto the sacred ground."

"Like me?" I asked quietly, but he did nothing but glower.

"Also, the little ones seem to be drawn to it."

I didn't get a chance to respond before Fortis, Philip, and Crystal game crashing into the door behind me.

I jumped and moved around the table, out of their way, as they began setting everything up, and it made me realize that Fortis and Philip had done this a lot of times.

Crystal, however, was holding a beautiful multicolored scarf like it was acid, away from her body and with two fingers.

"Give me that!" Fortis snapped, taking it from her with a disapproved look. Crystal didn't look at the table any better, and discomfort radiated off of her loud and clear.

"You don't like the table?" I asked, wondering why she wouldn't but it made me feel so wonderful.

She made a face before she answered," no, their Goddess hates up and therefore all of her items cause us pain on contact."

"She is my Goddess too then, I suppose, since none of their stuff hurts me."

Crystal made an even worse face before she turned away and began muttering to herself.

"What are the fluids for? And the machines?" I asked indicating the IV's set up and the small equipment Philip was pulling into the room.

"Don't worry," Fortis assured, gently touching my arm. "It is just to monitor your vitals, keep your hydrated, and to pull you out in case you stay too long."

Didn't comfort me, but whatever.

"Please climb into the table, Rebecca," Fortis instructed, and so I gently climbed onto light gray stone, tracing the small speckles of white. I was surprised when Kalin climbed up next to me.

"What?" he asked at my surprised look.

"Well, this table is small enough as it is, and I thought I was the one going in, so. . .?"

"I will be coming with you." He said simply with a shrug, before forcing us both to lie back, me half on him. Fortis leaned over us before I could protest, thoughts of the keeper running through my mind, and tied my left hand with his right, the cloth warm and tingly against my skin.

"Ouch!" I yelped when I felt the sting in my other arm, looking over to realize that Philip had stuck me with the IV.

"Had to be done." He said simply, still sulking, so I rolled my eyes.

"Okay," Fortis said, then let out a breath. "Are you two ready?"

Since I really couldn't say what was going to happen I wasn't ready to say I was 100 percent ready and willing to go. But this seemed like an important aspect to them, in ritual as well as also playing a role in the relationship. Kalin looked calm and ready, but thoughts of the Keeper seemed to still keeping eating at me.

"Kalin," Fortis said softly as she moved around the table to stand beside her brother, gently putting her hand on his arm. "Remember to stay away from the Keeper. And don't be stupid, if he comes after you you need to come out, you know he won't hurt Rebecca, and she is safe as long as she is in the realm with our Goddess." She gently brushed away a strand of hair when he gave her what looked like a non-committed nod to me. But either Fortis didn't notice, or this thing was on a time limit.

I didn't know about Kalin, but things were starting to seem fuzzy to me. It was a little bit harder to breathe than it was a minuet ago, and my heartbeat seemed to be going sluggish in my chest. My whole body was warm and buzzing, and I couldn't even feel the cold stone underneath me anymore. I couldn't even feel Kalin's hand tied with mine. My head was too heavy to lift anymore, so I let it rest against the table, slightly off the edge, my hair spilling over the side.

The last thing I remembered seeing was the sun shining off of my hair in shards of gold.

**This is the song I picture in Rebecca's world.**

watch?v=_edT17i5cSI

Rebecca awoke in a black world, with Kalin standing beside her, the only thing she could see were two lovely birds keeping post about a yard from her. They were big, almost her size, and every color imaginable, shimmering in the unknowing light source like mercury.

"Birds?" Kalin asked in confusion, looking around for somewhere to go, but the only obvious path was ahead, between the two birds. She was having a flashback from the first never ending story.

"Not birds," Rebecca said softly, stepping forward. This world was overwhelming to her, so much attacking her at once. It was suddenly like she knew everything, like the very air was saturated with knowledge and power.

"They look like birds to me," Kalin said hesitantly.

"They are now, but they used to be women. They gave up their forms to guard this realm." She had crossed the distance now, Kalin still trailing behind her, unsure. "They knew there was no going back once they made this choice, they knew it was to be a lonely existence, but still they chose to do it." She gently brushed the side of one of their bowed heads, hearing the soft sound made in response. Her heart was breaking for them.

"Why?"

"Because to them, you're Goddess and the safety of this realm for other women is more important than their own lives."

And she glided between them without either of them stirring. It was as if she was standing on the other side of a wall of water, her form was blurred. She reached through this wall, offering him her hand. He paused for a moment, nervously looking between the two bird women, wondering if they would attack him as the keeper would.

"They won't harm you," she assured, even her voice sounding like it was coming from another place, whispery and watery. "They are just here to make sure no males come through on their own, and no women who aren't ready."

So he took her hand, feeling within her strength and calm that he wasn't feeling even a little bit. She pulled him through, which was akin to stepping through a wall of cool mist; kissing his skin and making him feel invigorated.

Then he got a look at where they were.

Rebecca's world was beautiful, just in front of them multiple hallways leading to multiple rooms, all dashed with color, worn furniture, pictures, and toys.

She stepped to the right, peeking into the first room she came across, finding the rooms ceiling covered in glass in every shade of color and light refracted at every angle, making the room feel warm and cozy. It was bare, except for an oriental carpet, its artwork twisting and winding a midnight forest with fog creeping over the trees and the moon illuminating the sky and stars.

"Becca," Kalin's voice made her glance up, but he wasn't looking at everything the way she was, he was supporting himself with one hand on the blue wall that almost seemed to be sparkling like diamonds.

"Isn't this place amazing?" she breathed, looking up at the ceiling again, not afraid in the least that the jagged edges were pointed downward towards her. It was like standing in a cave with millions of stalactites playing a symphony of colors just for her.

"How did you know about those women?" he asked, ignoring her question. It brought her attention back to him, but for some reason she couldn't understand why it was important.

"I know everything in this realm." She said simply. Then she tilted her head, her eyes growing wide. "Oh god, I know everything."

"Becca?" he asked, unsure.

"Kalin, I am not joking. I can see it all clearly. What happened to your Goddess's mother, with her love? Her tears causing the lilies to spring up, giving the moon water to her daughters husband." She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. "You guys got it all wrong. Your Goddess didn't put the curse on your women, her sister, Clara, did. She did it because they refused to follow her. So your Goddess helped them find the women they were meant to have. The having only one child thing was something she didn't foresee, but she could only have male children, so it extended to her children for generations. And by time the turning of the tides came the curse was already in place."

Kalin's lips parted in surprise, watching her with amazement as her lips parted and she took in a stunned breath. She met his gaze, hers so intense it shook him.

"Kalin," she said softly, "I know how to give your women immortality and children."

Just as that blow hit him he looked up and realized he had just made a fatal mistake. He had thought the Keeper could only travel through mirrors, but as he looked up at the glass he saw his own reflection staring at him, and the image of a man who looked like something from someone's worse nightmare.

Philip frowned at Rebecca's vitals, noting they had suddenly escalated, but he felt helpless because there was nothing he could do to help her anyway.

But he was startled when he looked up from his computer screen and saw Rebecca's sister, standing there over her. Her black hair was tied back, her face solemn, and her green eyes dull emeralds. What has surprised him the most though was not only had he not heard or sensed her presence, but the vibe he felt coming off of her surprised him.

"I've always watched out for her, you know." Her voice startled him, and he stood up from his chair suddenly, making it screech on the floor. But she didn't react, just titled her head and continued looking at her sister. "We always knew she wasn't our sister. Out parents had told us that they were going to be hosting a child. And my brother and I are also Grit experiments."

"You're a Grit." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He didn't know how he has missed it before but she was giving of the signals now loud and clear, like a broadcasting beacon.

"I was the one who gave you the hint you know? The call that told you that a Thorian queen would be born."

"Why would you do that?" he asked in confusion, moving around the table, but her sister skirted away from him, like a scared animal. He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I heard you think she is your daughter?" now that was a question, and he frowned at her. But when he opened his mouth to respond she cut him off. "You're wrong you know. She couldn't be. She is the perfect merger between our two people. She is neither Thorian nor Grit, and therefore she cannot be your daughter. She has no father, and her mother had no choice but to give up the embryo that made her."

"How do you know all of this?" but she wasn't done.

"I have done everything I can to protect her, I even tried to stop them from sending Kalin in, because she wasn't ready, but they wouldn't listen to me. I even tried to get her away from our parents, who abused and used her, just like our brother did too. And all the time I just tried to get you to notice me!"

"Notice you?" he asked, baffled.

"Yes, me." She said, brokenheartedly. "Me, your daughter. I have always known, they told me when I was little that you were my dad. And then I had to sit there through the years and watch you cuddle and coddle her, the queen of your race. I knew you thought she was yours, I could tell by the way you were always looking out for her, how protective you were. But it wasn't her! It was me!" she slapped her palm on her chest.

He saw her other hand reach into the bag at her waist, pulling out something that glinted in the low light of the sunset.

"And I have spoken to your Goddess and she has told me what I need to do." And she swung.

Rebecca didn't even think about her own safety, or even what she was doing. But when the Keeper manifested, he looked like something from her worst nightmare. This just happened to be pyramid head from silent hill.

When he stood before Kalin, muscles rippling, she leapt in front of him, just barley registering the fact that this could be a danger to her own life. Kalin saw her coming, reaching for her to try and pull her out of the way. But the moment she passed in front of Mr. big and scary he suddenly shattered into thousands of colorful butterflies that scattered in every direction, some of their silky wings brushing Rebecca's skin.

Shaking, she wasted no time, shoving Kalin from the room and back into the hallway, feeling sick to her stomach and scared. The tranquility that had overcome her at this place was gone now, and she was struck with the harsh reality that only she was safe here.

"Becca, are you okay? Becca!" Kalin grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her hard. Her eyes, which were stark, shot to his face, her face pale.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, looking back down at the ground, trying to gather herself.

"Baby, I know this isn't the time, but what you were saying before he appeared, did you mean it?"

"Kalin," she said softly, still trying to put herself together enough to give him an answer.

"I need to know, Becca."

"I know, just give me . . ." her body suddenly tensed, her head tilting to the side, as if she were hearing something.

"Becca?"

"Shh," she leaned slightly, listening intently. "Don't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

She didn't answer him; instead she began down the hall, stumbling in her haste. She passed door way after doorway, each more unique and colorful than the last, but she did not falter. She finally made it to the end of the hallway, opening up a large oak door that led into an extravagant ballroom, complete with mirrors on the walls. But the room wasn't well lit, half of it cast in shadow.

"It's from here," she murmured, but when she went to step forward she suddenly gasped, clutching at her chest, dropping like a stone. Kalin barley managed to catch her, wincing as her shrill scream of agony pierced his eardrums. He dragged her to the middle, where there was more light, and pulled her hands away from her chest to see what was the problem, but there was no wound that he could see.

"Stop, Becca, there is nothing there!" he had to keep her from clawing at her chest, and she was panting hard and fast.

"The change hurts, doesn't it?"

Kalin tensed at that voice, shivers running down his spine. It couldn't be who he thought it was, but he slowly turned to see.

A woman came from the shadows, her hair as black as coal and her eyes the color of the sky. She was small, dainty, and she had a mean smile upon her lips.

"Who. The. Hell. Are. You?" Rebecca managed to breath between the pain, gritting her teeth, and she struggled to make it to her feet.

"Tell her, Kalin."

"She's my mother."

"NO!" Philip screamed, ripping Rebecca's sister from the besides, throwing her to the floor to get a look at the small knife that was now embedded in Rebecca's chest.

"I'm sorry, but she told me, she TOLD me!"

"Who!? Who told you?"

"Your Goddess, she told me to do it, she said I had to." She curled up into a ball, tears pouring from her eyes. "She told me."

Philip looked helplessly between her and Rebecca, her body twisting and convulsing. He held her down, screaming at some of the women who came in to check the noise, demanding the help. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew one thing. He could not lose Rebecca, daughter or no, if she died Kalin would go down with her.

The Thorian people would be destroyed.

"Your mother was a Grit?" Becca got out.

"Yes, she was." Kalin said, still reeling from seeing her here. "She was my father's second Bride, my sisters mother was in a comatose state, still alive. We found out later she had tricked my Fathers instinct to accept her, even give her a child, but by drinking her blood she poisoned him and killed him. Our people rebelled, scared and worried, they decided to . . . to kill Fortis's mother while she was still in comatose."

"Yes, all of that work, years of pretending to be happy and sleeping with the enemy, all of it for nothing. In the end I still gave birth to a male Thorian child, I gave him the heir he didn't have." She preened like she was proud of what she had done to Kalin's father. "But it doesn't matter anyway. I am not here as your mother but merely the embodiment of Cara."

"Cara?" Kalin asked blankly.

"Your Goddesses sister." Rebecca filled in, panting, leaning on the mirrored wall.

"Bingo. I am here to push you into the transition."

"What transition?"

"Oh, the painful one. Where your genetics become more Grit, your body begins to change." She began sauntering towards Rebecca, and Kalin was still too dazed to stop her. "Hurts, doesn't it? That is your heart stopping. That's right, you are going to die, Rebecca, and you are going to become my tool, like you were born to be."

"I was not!" she hissed, panting through the pain.

"Yes you were. Everything about you was planning. You are my granddaughter, did you know that? Your mother, Crystal, is my only child. She was born to give birth to you. Nothing more. You will be completely unique. Your heart stopping? It is so no one can change you—"

"Step away from her!" another woman came over, her hair as gold as the sun, wearing a white dress. Kalin's mother backed away quickly at her approach, and the second woman kneeled beside Rebecca, gently touching her forehead. The pain seemed to ease, and her body was able to relax.

"Who are you?" Rebecca asked tiredly.

"She is Fortis's mother." Kalin answered, his mouth hanging open. "Impossible. I saw you die."

"Ah, Kalin," she smiled brightly, looking so pretty, standing and embracing Kalin. "I have always considered you my son. You took care of my little girl when she needed it the most; I can never thank you enough. But right now I am just a step in, just as she is." She pulled back, her smile softening. "I am here to help your Bride."

"I'm scared." Rebecca whispered, and the woman kneeled beside her again, touching her shoulder. "I know, but you understand this, don't you? Being here you see all the answers, you know why you must do this, but you also know that it is a choice. It will hurt, because yes you will be unique. But you won't be a monster, I promise you."

"I always knew you would look like an angel," Rebecca whispered to her, sweat coating her body.

"This is just a body, but yes, she was very beautiful when she lived."

"She was made, just like me, right?"

"Yes, in a lab, much like the one you were conceived and tweaked in."

"Am I Kalin's real mate?" she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"Oh, Rebecca, my sweet girl," she said, softly wiping the tears away. "The Grit's think they have the process down, but they don't. I pick every woman out for my decedents, I choose carefully. Yes, they made those women, but I am the one who gave them the essence they needed." She closed her beautiful blue eyes for a moment, concealing her sadness. "I knew it would hurt them, Philip and Kalin's father, but things had to work out the way they did for you to come into the world, and for Fortis as well. I regret that I did not get to see Fortis grow, but I watch over her all the time and I know how beautiful she has become." Then she sighed, looking up at Kalin with regret.

"I am sorry Kalin; I cannot tell you how Rebecca will play a part in all of this. She knows, but she can't tell you till the time comes. And now, for the worst part." she took his hand, smiling sadly as she kissed his cheek. "Tell my baby girl I love her so much."

Kalin suddenly jolted awake to pure and utter chaos. Rebecca had been pulled from the table, blood running down her sides, pooling from her chest. A bloody knife lay off the side, and people buzzed around in a panic, putting pressure, gather materials.

Before Kalin could even get into a panic a hard hand clamped around his wrist and yanked him clean off the table. He barley landed on his feet, stumbling forward when the pulling didn't stop. When he finally stumbled to a halt he looked up to see his sister standing over him, her hair in a ponytail and a little bit of blood smearing her cheek.

"Fortis . . . what happened?" he croaked out, feeling like he hadn't spoken in months.

"She," she pointed to a huddled figure on the floor up against the wall "said our Goddess told her to stab her sister, so she did. Oh, and apparently she is also Philip's real daughter." She swiped at her brow with the back of her wrist, her hands stained with blood. "We can't seem to stop the bleeding, and if it weren't for the fact of how quickly she can produce it she would be dead by now. Philip says he can't stitch her up because he can't see the wound, and we can't stop the bleeding, no matter how hard we try."

Madness was creeping in, he could feel it, but he had to keep his head, even though he felt Rebecca's life force pulling on his like a drowning person on a life line. He had to focus on what his sister was saying he had to make his brain work.

Then he realized who the woman was.

"Rebecca's sister?" he gaped, she barley lifted her head in registration to his words. "You stabbed her?"

"Had to." Was her only reply before she put her head back down.

Then the memories came flooding back.

"No, she's right. Make them stop!" he went to bolt into the room, but Fortis caught his arm.

"What? Are you out of you mind? If she bleeds out like this much longer she is going to die, Kalin. You will die with her, do you get that? The line will end; our people will descend into madness!"

Smiling softly he touched her hand on his arm, leaned forward and softly. "She is proud and loves you very much." And pulled away from her, leaving her gaping.

"Stop! STOP!" he yelled, shoving away the attendants and Philip, all of who looked at his like he had already gone mad.

"Kalin, I need to stop the bleeding." Philip reasoned hands up in surrender, edging slightly closer.

"No, you don't, this is supposed to happen, trust me."

But even as he spoke the words he felt Rebecca's heart stop, and before he could even blink the madness swept him over, his body trying to stop his heart and his mind rebelling against it.

Fortis couldn't seem to stop the tears. Her brother was restrained, sitting in the corner, rocking back and forth, mumbling nonsense of some subject or another. They had put the muzzle and strait jacket on him, to keep him from doing harm to himself and others.

Rebecca's body lay on the Goddesses' stone slab, her body long ago having lost all heat it had possessed. She was gone, truly gone, and all of their people were feeling it like a physical blow. She blamed herself most of all, for not stopping Kalin from letting her die. He had been slipping into the madness, she should have known. But part of her wanted to believe that he had known what he was doing, especially since he had delivered a message from her mother, she had been sure of it.

What had happened to him while he was in that world? A world she could not enter, no matter how hard she tried, just proving how different she was from her own kind.

She just couldn't stop looking at her. So soaked in blood, all vibrant life gone. She had come to love Rebecca, so full of energy and smiles. She had run in the beginning, but she had known that was just what he brother had needed. And she had felt sure, just like Philip, that Rebecca would be the saving of them all, a godsend from their Goddess.

Now she was gone.

Fortis wiped her blurry eyes and looked to the door when she heard a small sniffle, finding Elizabeth standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes.

"Why did she have to die?" the little girl sniffled, and Fortis felt a new wave of tears washing over her. But she forced them back, determined to help this little girl deal with her own grief.

"I don't know, baby." She answered honestly, watching as she crossed from the door to Rebecca's body.

"It was her wedding day." She whispered, looking over at Kalin, looking so sad. For a moment, Fortis though she saw Rebecca twitch, but when she wiped away her tears she was still, so she wrote it off.

"I know she would have made a wonderful bride." She forced a smile. "I think she would have had children just like you."

"Really?" but then Liza froze, frowning.

"What is it?"

"She had fangs?" she asked, looking back at Fortis. Fortis sported a frown of her own.

"What are you—"but she didn't get to finish her sentence. Suddenly Kalin was on his feet, his eyes clear, struggling in the jacket. Before Fortis could even feel joy at that, suddenly Rebecca came alive in a flurry of movement. She snatched Elizabeth up and bit deeply into the side of her throat. Fortis cried out in panic, her limbs frozen in shock before she finally leapt up, trying to pull Elizabeth from Rebecca.

"No! STOP! PLEASE! YOU'RE KILLING HER!" she found herself screaming when she couldn't get the little girl away. Tears began pouring down her face again; not understanding what was happening, panic tearing at her chest.

Suddenly, Kalin was there, having torn through the jacket and ripped the muzzle off; he grabbed Rebecca's arms and with ease pried her off of Elizabeth. Almost like it was a wakeup call Rebecca let go, looking panicked and weak. By this time people were coming in, and Philip grabbed Liza before she could roll from the table to the floor. He cradled her, checking vitals, stemming the bleeding.

Rebecca was mumbling something, but her words were so weak they meant nothing, and Kalin cradled her, crying from joy as he kissed her face. He muttered back to her, rocking her, clutching her close, ignoring the rest of the people around them.

"What did you do?" Fortis asked Rebecca, ignoring the noise. Weakly, Rebecca's gaze met her own. "WHAT DID YOU DO!?" she screamed, feeling physically capable of violence at this point. Rebecca did have fangs now; she saw when she parted her lips. And her skin was so much paler.

"I saved her life." She said weakly, before her head lolled and she was unconscious. With wide eyes Fortis looked over to where Philip held the little girl, wondering what her Goddess had planned next.

**And now Fatal Attraction is over! I know I drug it out; I just didn't want it to end! Thank you to all who made it this far! Love Across Sands will be coming soon, Fortis's story, find out what happened! Also, come and download the new and improved version on Fatal Attraction for epub and mobi when available! PLEASE COMMENT!**


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